The Arms
by For the Kingdom
Summary: Spinoff of Spiderman 2. What if Doc Ock never really did die? What if he desired to take control of the arms? And what happens when another doctor gets in his way? Under construction.
1. A Party at Aunt May's

**_Chapter one - A Party at Aunt May's_**

Peter walked down the New York streets towards his Aunt May's new apartment. She had asked him to come over that night, and he needed the support after a long week. He arrived there and walked inside. His aunt and Mary Jane were there. "Hey, what's up? I though I was just coming over to visit Aunt May." He said when he saw Mary Jane.

Mary Jane approached him happily. "We decided to surprise you after all you've done for us." She explained. Peter raised his eyebrow and slightly6 pointed towards May. Mary Jane leaned into him. "She knows." She whispered.

"Yes. It took me a while, but I caught on." Aunt May added in.

Peter nodded. "Hey, was Harry invited?"

"Yeah, he said he didn't want to come. I haven't seen him lately." Mary Jane replied concernedly.

"I hope he's ok," Peter said. The room went quiet with concern as they thought of the Osborn boy who had all of a sudden been acting strangely.

Aunt May shrugged it off. "Well, let's not dwell on it tonight. Tonight's yours, Peter. Which reminds me, I have something for you." She said reaching into her pocket and taking out a small box and handing it to Peter.

The boy carefully unwrapped it and pushed the tissue paper out of the way. He held up a pair of keys. "What are these for?" he asked with a laugh.

"Well come outside and you'll find out." Aunt May said grabbing him by the hand. She lead him down the stairs and around the building. "Good heavens! At least close your eyes!" Peter smiled and covered his eyes.

They stopped and Aunt May gave the signal. Peter opened his eyes and couldn't believe the sight. A car, he had his very own car. And a convertible one at that. He squeezed the keys in his palm and looked back at the women standing there. "How- how did-"

"Oh, I had acting money left over." Mary Jane answered blazely. "But it was May's idea. She ws determined to pay for it by herself, but I beat her down." She smiled at him.

Peter couldn't find words to express his gratitude. He walked over to them and gave them a hug.

They all went inside and had a piece of cake. "It's not your birthday, but do make a wish anyway." Aunt May urged as she lit a candle and stuck it in his slice. Peter smiled at her and closed his eyes. _I wish that Otto was still alive._ He thought as he blew the candle out. A small tear dribbled from the corner of his eye. He quickly wiped it away and everyone ate their cake.

Afterwards Mary Jane went home and Peter was helping Aunt May clear the dishes. "So how've you been?" he asked.

"Oh, I've been fine. How 'bout yourself?"

"About the same. It was supposed to get warmer according to the news. Which reminds me, do you think I could stay here for a little while and watch TV? I don't have television in my apartment."

"Sure." Aunt May agreed. "But I'm going to bed." She said going up the stairs.

"Good night." Peter called after her.

"Good night." She answered as the door shut.

Peter grabbed the remote and planted himself on the couch in front of the TV. He turned it on and flipped through the channels. "My chickens / love that perfume / this coffee makes you wanna / special news break." This caught Peter's attention. The news caster went on. "According to a J. Jonah Jameson, Spiderman has been a threat to humanity and society. Although that's not what the citizens have to say."

Peter smiled to that. "Ha! Take that Mr. Jameson!" he said as he settled in and listened to the rest of the news report.

"Spiderman's an inspiration to all of us." A fairly large woman commented into the microphone.

"Spidey is nice and good and he's who I want to be when I grow up." A shy little boy said with his teddy bear in a head lock with his arm. Peter was touched by the citizens' reactions to him. It sure helped every time when he found out that another person that he protects thinks of him as a friend.

The comments continued streaming and most were good. Once in a while, a person would trash him, but he had gotten used to it. Peter listened to them into the night and eventually dosed off; which was just what Aunt May had told him would happen. He soon was fast asleep and began dreaming about what the world would be like if it were perfect: _It was a beautiful day. The sky was baby blue and the few clouds suspended in it were puffy and white like whipped cream. All of the people Peter loved were sitting on the bright-green grass having a picnic. Aunt May, Harry, Mary Jane were all happily talking about a subject that for some reason he could hear. He looked out in the distance and there was a dock on the river. It was foggy over there and he saw two figures though he couldn't make out what they were. Peter strained his eyes to see what they were and he finally could. Coming from the weather-beaten wood was Uncle Ben. He was happy to see Peter and he ran to hug him. Peter draped himself over his long lost uncle almost forgetting about the second blur. He looked over his shoulder and the other one came into view. Dr. Octavious, tentacle-less and in a lab coat walked closer. He was also glad to see Peter and Peter hugged him along with Uncle Ben. "You survived! You're both alive!" he whispered as he hugged them closer._

If only the world were perfect…if only…

to be continued...


	2. A Day at the Dock

A/N: **jla2snoopy:** They were giving him a party to thank him for never giving up his role as Spiderman and doing an awesom job. (they both know, so it's ok).

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

"Peter! Get up Peter! It's half past ten!" Aunt May announced as she shook Peter's shoulders. Peter fluttered his eyes open to see his aunt looking lovingly down at him and smiled at her. Aunt May did the same to him. "I told you you'd fall asleep." She lectured standing up to turn the TV off.

"Yes, you were right." Peter gave in. He looked outside at the beautiful day. The weather reminded him of what had happened in his dream. The ironic factor between his dream and reality was so intense that he was depressed about it. It was as if his dream had mocked him by being so perfect.

Aunt May caught him staring out the window at the scenery. "Do you want me to cook you some breakfast?" she offered.

"Have you already put everything away?" Peter asked turning around to talk to her.

"Well I can always take them out again!" Aunt May said avoiding answering his question directly.

"No, I'm fine. Actually, I was going to go out to the dock for a little while. Maybe get some me-time in." Peter replied grabbing his coat, which Aunt May had neatly folded and was sitting on the chair.

"Alright. Suite yourself. I'll be here all day in case you need to come back for something."

"OK. By the way, thank you again for the car. I don't know how to repay you." Peter said giving his kind aunt a hug and kiss.

"Oh don't mention it. It was about time you had your own car." Aunt May said as Peter headed out the door.

"Bye." Peter called.

"Goodbye." Aunt May answered as she began to do the dishes.

WWWWWWWWWWWWW

Peter arrived at the dock and decided to have a small breakfast at one of the diners on the coastline. He chose a cozy little table by an open window that overlooked the beautiful river shimmering in the sunlight. The seat was rather beaten up. Obviously, it was among the favorite tables in the restaurant. Finally, he had gotten something good that wasn't defective. He gazed out at the innocent looking river. It had been two months since the whole fusion reactor deal, and now it seemed like it had all just been a bad dream. He so wished it had been.

If only Otto would have simmered down enough to ask for help! Peter could have fixed everything, he knew he could have. The great man had tutored him so long on the fusion reactor and also on his 'smart arms' that Peter could have just about built his own set of them. Dr. Octavious had also stressed the inhibitor chip and how it worked.

Peter then realized how close he had been to saving the doctor. If he had just slapped another micro chip onto the back of his neck, none of that would have happened! He gave an angry blow to the wall with the side of his arm and stared harder at the water. A waitress walked up to him. She slipped a notepad and pen out of her apron. She clicked and set the pen to the paper ready to take his order. "May I take your order sir?" she asked politely.

Peter shook out of his trance and turned on his seat to face the woman. "Huh? Oh, yeah. I'll just have a salad and an iced tea." he replied.

"OK." she said writing his order down. The waitress looked back up at Peter who was staring out at the water again. "Is something wrong? Did I forget to do something?" she asked worriedly. This was her first or second table and she had a fear of failing about her.

"No. No. You're fine. It's something else." Peter assured her.

She wiped her forehead with two fingers and let out her breath that she had been holding since she asked that question. "Oh thank goodness! I mean, for a moment there I thought that I- you." she realized that her customer had gone back to his regular routine of staring out the window blankly. "OK...well, your food will be here in a minute, so in the mean time, just relax and continue you awesome job at window staring. I'll leave you now." she said turning to walk away.

Peter knew it would be rude to just say nothing and let her walk away, so he spoke up. "Wait." he said. She turned back around to listening to him. "You're doing a wonderful job, and it really isn't anything against you. I just lost three people who were dear to me," he explained.

"Awe, how?" she asked compassionately.

What was Peter going to tell her? He couldn't tell her how they died, that would give away his identity. He decided that the short conversation was going in too deep. "I'm not entitled to say." he replied.

"OK. That's fine. I didn't know if you wanted to talk about it. I thought that it might help." She said. After a shrug the waitress walked off. "Be right back."

Peter watched her walk off and then turned back towards the river. _Why am I beating myself up about this? It's over. I need to move on._ He lectured himself. With that sentence now fresh in his mind, he loosened the strain on his eyes to just look out over the river for pleasure, not because he was looking for something. All of a sudden, something caught his eye, something shimmering, something chrome. Peter jerked and shot his eyes open that were slowly inching their way closed. Jumping to conclusions, he stuck his head out the window. Could it truly be him? How long had he been that near the surface? Peter got up on his chair, ready to race out of the window to save the thing that he assured himself was the doctor, when he saw a small boy pluck it from the river. Peter's hope was shattered; it had only been a toy submarine brought by a little boy and his dad on a father-son outing.

Peter lowered his eyes as he sat back down in

his seat. He looked around the room, observing the few other people seated eating and either reading a fish magazine, or a newspaper. No one had seemed to notice his sudden outburst of energy. At least he wouldn't have to deal with the other customers watching him strangely making it impossible to enjoy a meal.

A few minutes passed and the waitress swung by with his meal at hand. She joyfully placed it in front of him and urged him to enjoy the food. Once she left, Peter took a bite. The food was delicious, but he didn't feel like eating at that moment. He wanted to do something a little more physical than eating salad. Peter considered swinging around for a while, just to swing, but then he had been swinging all week and the water looked so welcoming and pleasant that swimming won in the polls. He signaled the waitress to bring his bill. He paid the bill, left a tip, and made his way outside.

It had gotten windier, but still pleasant to swim in. Peter took off his coat and shoes. He backed up for a running start and dove in. The water wasn't the cleanest on the face of the earth, but Peter really didn't care. He swam through the cloudy water and dove down to the ships that had crashed and things in the shallower part of the river. Peter was intrigued by those things that had sunken to a riverbed. It was as if the water kept the object suspended in time as it had originally looked. He swam a little farther down and the water got darker. He saw many pieces of lab equipment, and something that he never hoped, or expected to see!

To Be Continued...


	3. A Shocking Surprise

**_Chapter three - A Shocking Surprise_**

Peter strained his eyes to see through the mucky water; something was definitely there. He swam for it and as the figure became clearer, the more puzzled Peter became. He had only seen one thing like it; the object looked almost like a giant metal pretzel. Its dark coat produced a strange air and Peter knew he had seen it before.

He swam closer to get a better look and he gasped in his mind. It was Dr. Octavious! Peter swam the rest of the distance between him and the man. He surveyed Ock while pondering about what was going on. The heads of the tentacles seemed to form a waterproof cone around their host's head. What had happened? Had they suffocated him? Had they gotten angry at Otto for aborting the project and killed him off as he was slowly drowning himself? All these thoughts ran through Peter's mind, as he looked the doctor over.

Peter swam to the surface for a breath and back down. He now knew who it was. All of those memories came flooding back. "_If only I could have done something to stop it"._ He thought. Peter reached out and grabbed Otto's hand, which had been dangling lifelessly. He let go all of a sudden; the hand was still warm. Peter grabbed his hand again to make sure of his discovery. Again, Otto's hand was found to be warm, warmer than any dead person's would be.

Peter got his head past the tentacles and rested his ear on the man's chest. A faint thumping was heard; it was very weak, and sounded as if it might quit at any time, but his heart was pumping blood nonetheless.

Peter became excited. Why hadn't he climbed to shore? He asked himself. His eyes drifted down towards a thick iron chain tangled badly with Otto's legs. I've got to get him out! Peter grabbed hold of the chain and pulled. The tentacles hissed and chirped threateningly as he went. In fact, Peter was sure that if they hadn't been struggling to keep their host alive, they would have attacked and he'd be dead already.

The chain gave way and Peter draped the motionless man over his shoulder. He swam to the surface to get a breath of air and then looked for a more secluded site to bring him out of the water. Peter spotted another old pier off a hundred feet or so. Several of the buildings around the dock had been damaged by the fusion reaction, and this was one of the ones that took more of a beating.

He swam for it just barely above the surface. Even with his super strength produced by the spider bite, Doc Ock proved to be a load to carry with – what? 70 extra pounds of metal? 100? Peter didn't dwell on it; but the point still stood that Ock was pretty heavy. Peter reached the pier and swam under what was left of the wall. Fortunately, the floor had broken in such a way that the boards created a slight slant that made climbing out of the water a whole lot easier.

He climbed out of the water and gently laid Otto on the floor. Peter crouched over him and stared nervously. The tentacles released Otto's head and lay on the floor weakly. Peter was relieved that he was still alive and that his chest still moved with frail breath. The smile was soon stolen from his face when Peter noticed one crucial thing; he was no longer breathing.

He embraced Otto's heart and began manually pumping it. Then he gave him mouth-to-mouth. Peter pressed aggressively against his chest and breathed air into his lungs. He did this several times and finally, Otto coughed.

Peter stepped back a little as Otto spurted water from his mouth and took a few aggressive wheezing breaths. He then calmed down enough to breathe slowly. Otto weakly rested his head on the tattered floor. "Why did you rescue me?" he asked without moving. Otto then looked up at Peter with hurt in his eyes. "They killed her – we killed her…we – we killed my Rosie! My Rosie's dead because of me!" tears came to his eyes as he struggled to speak. Peter said nothing; the man was obviously suffering from emotional trauma, from losing everything so quickly.

"I was going to stop it, send them and myself to the bottom of the river. I almost succeeded on drowning! But they kept me alive by keeping the water out and filtering oxygen in, and then here you came to pull me back out…don't you seem I'm dangerous?" Otto yelled struggling to sit up.

He looked out over the water. "It would be best if you tossed me back in," he said in a gloomy, but firm voice. "There's no telling what I may do with the inhibitor chip burn out."

Peter thought to himself. Inhibitor chip! That was it! The very opportunity he was searching for. And Otto wasn't a murdering psychopath anymore; perhaps the water had helped him – since he had been suspended in it for just less than two months.

Peter talked as softly and caringly as he could. "Is that the only thing wrong with your tentacles? The inhibitor chip is missing?"

"No, it's not what's wrong with them. They weren't any good to begin with. The inhibitor chip was merely a leash in controlling them," Otto explained as he lowered his eyes. "A leash I should've made sturdier," he muttered.

Peter pretended he didn't hear his comment although he had heard it clearly. Otto was really beating himself up. Hopefully, this phase would pass soon. "But was that burning out the cause of everything?"

"Yes, if you'd like to look at it that way."

"Because I could rebuild it for you or something. You could walk me through, I could slap it back on, and walla! You'd be free!" Peter tried to make it sound appealing.

Otto furrowed his brow in thought. That idea just might work. Peter was surely smart enough and diligent enough to go through with it. He had been relieved to learn that Peter was always late and tired because he was Spiderman and not just because he had stayed out all night with some girl.

His tentacles curled around him as he thought. They clicked and hissed and were repeatedly telling him it was a bad idea in his head.

"Yes Peter, I know you can," the tentacles moved restlessly, "And I'd be glad to allow you to."

The tentacles were outraged at this. They shrieked many unkind words that seemed to strike his head like a metal stake.

_**How could you do this? You're making a big mistake!**_

_**Don't do this to us! **_

_**Don't do this to yourself!**_

"Listen! I don't care what you think is right! And, no, leaving well enough alone isn't best for us! I've listened _too_ long and I will no longer heed your voices. So keep talking! You'll just be wasting your virtual electronic breaths," he exploded angrily. His tentacles went quiet.

"Feel better?" Peter finally spoke up.

"Yes…yes I do," Otto replied taking a deep breath. Silence instilled.

"So you're probably hungry from being under there so long, right?" All Otto could do was nod. "There's a quaint little restaurant over there if you wanted something to eat. I could get you something."

"No, I have the money." He began digging in his pockets. "You don't have to go and be buying me food…" he mumbled.

Peter smiled to himself. He was still the same old Dr. Octavious. Otto finally found his wallet and took it out, or what was left of it. Water isn't usually good for leather; especially being soaked in it for so long. The bottom half fell to the ground with a soggy plop.

Otto stared at it before speaking. "On second thought, thank you for your generous offer."

OOOOO

Inside the restaurant, Otto's arms were hidden and Peter had ordered something for him to eat. Otto munched on the soda crackers set by the napkins on the table as they talked. He was obviously famished. Being underwater, just barely alive, and having a sip of water now and then had almost killed him.

"So the cyber electronic circuit, it's the only thing needed?" Peter asked.

"No, no. There's much more to it than that! It's just one of the more important pieces – like the head of the body – right alongside the FJ unit. They're the ones that will be troublesome to find."

"Oh I see. So let me get this straight," Peter grabbed the napkin he had been taking notes on. "We need to get: an FJ unit, a CEC, an ERT adaptiod, a robotic titaniumA47 nis…a…forty th…bolt…with…and…"

Otto heard less and less of what Peter was telling him as he stared over his shoulder at the elderly couple sharing a milkshake together. They laughed and talked about inaudible things. The wrinkles around their eyes –laughter wrinkles – were something Otto knew he would never have. Then the couple kissed. That few seconds burnt deep into Otto's soul.

"_That could have been me…_ he thought. _That_ _could have been…us…"_

"But most of these you probably still have in your laboratory, right? Dr. Octavious? Dr. Octavious?"

Otto ignored him. Peter glanced back at what Otto was staring at and then looked back at him.

"Stalking are we?" Peter teased quietly.

A few moments passed before Otto processed Peter's words.

"Oh! Yes, I have most of those pieces on the list back at my laboratory. That is, if they haven't boxed it up yet." He looked down at the table as he twiddled his thumbs. "And—and I wasn't stalking."

Peter glanced over at the couple as they got up from their seats and walked out the door happily holding hands. "They look cute together, don't they?"

"Yes, we would have," Otto answered as his eyes followed the elderly man down the street. "You don't know how lucky you are," he whispered to him although never really meaning form the man to hear.

Peter heard Otto talking to himself and knew that it was something more than just the tentacles again. Peter lowered his eyes to let Otto's moment pass as their table fell silent. A minute or two passed as Peter continued staring at the table and Otto's eyes fell on the street outside the giant window.

"So," Peter finally said, "if we're gonna build this thing, we'll have to head over to your place." He searched Otto's eyes for any sign of communication.

The mail arrived at the post office and Otto glanced over at him without moving any other part of him.

"Yes," Otto replied without emotion. It almost seemed as if he could care less about the tentacles, the city, or himself. Yet, he finished his sentence, which saved Peter from breaking the awkward silence again.

"We should head over there as soon as possible." He said monotonous.

"But you haven't gotten your food yet," Peter reasoned.

"So?"

"Aren't you hungry?"

"That doesn't matter any more. We have bigger and more important things to concentrate on!" he exploded unnecessarily. Peter knew that, even though he said he wasn't, Otto was indeed very hungry. Yet he let it go. Never mess with a man who's almost lost his life, and hasn't had food for over a month. Not to mention one who has access to four mechanical tentacles that, if and when desired, could twist you into a basketball and shoot some hoops. Something like that just might hurt.

Peter said nothing, left the money on the table, and the two walked out of the restaurant. Walking side-by-side, silent as blades of grass, almost opposite moods, might make a person from the street think that Otto was kidnapping Peter.

OOOOO

Peter and Ock arrived at the house, his house, their house, the one he shared with his beloved wife so many years. The place still reeked of happiness with a gloomy tint to it. For a while before speaking, Otto looked around at the rooms. They all seemed to taunt him of a life he had lost, a life he had given up to chase a silly dream. He felt like the prodigal son – the one who took all his money and ran away from home. Who then spent it on things he thought would help his life along. Yet it crashed and he came crawling back to his father who welcomed him with open arms.

Otto could fully relate to that, yet there was no one to help him, no one to crawl back to.

"You wait in here," Otto told peter as he let his eyes roam the house. "Make yourself comfortable. I'll get the parts." With that, he left and walked into his laboratory.

**_What is wrong?_**

_**You are acting in a manner that we do not fully understand.**_

"You wouldn't be able to understand. You've never lost someone as dear as Rosie." He commented staring at a steel table in the center of the room.

The tentacles all seemed to groan. **_That 'Rosie' woman again? When are you going to let that go?_**

"I had thought I did."

**_Just a while ago, you were happy. Why don't you bring that back?_**

_**We do not like it when you are sad.**_

_**Sadness applies more pressure on the ventral nerve than happiness and you are giving us a headache. **_

Although he felt his tentacles never had anything good to say, they were right. He needed to cheer up. He was going to get rid of them! Shouldn't that brighten his day just a little bit? That actually did make him less gloomy just thinking of that possibility.

He picked up a metal tray from the table and began dropping pieces into it. He had had to dismember and rebuild the inhibitor chip so many times that he could now recite the parts by heart.

Eventually, Otto was humming a joyful tune of which he didn't know the words to. He came to the last piece. "And a cyber-electronic circuit." His small, boyish smile faded and he looked around the room and on the shelves. Still nothing.

Panic began taking him as he viciously rummaged through the parts on the table. Otto sent his tentacles out in all directions, which mercilessly tore drawers from their tracks and searched them speedily.

Suddenly Otto stopped, as nervous as could be. The most important piece…was gone.

to be continued...


	4. Now For KP's Part

**_Chapter four - Now For KP's Part_**

"You sent me all that way for this?" A frustrated green-and-black woman exclaimed holding up a small black microchip in the tips of his fingers.

Her employer, Dr. Drakken, Looked up at her from his worktable. His uni-brow- christened eyes wrinkled with his delighted smile as he walked over to her. Shego's mood didn't change in the least even when he thanked her. It never usually did.

Drakken took the piece from her and held it in the light. The glow of the might reflecting off of the plating was mesmerizing to the mad scientist. The opposite copy of his laboratory behind the glass-like surface was breathtaking.

"Shego, do you know what this is?" he exclaimed taking a great deal of air into his lungs.

"No, and I don't ever want to know," His assistant said. She plopped down into a ratty recliner, put her feet up, and snatched the latest copy of _Villains Digest_ sitting on the en-table.

It was overly apparent that she truly didn't want to hear her employer babble on about whatever ridiculous thing he was building this time. Nothing of his junk really worked very well. Well, technically his inventions worked, but not well enough to beat the ever-hated Kim Possible and her clumsy sidekick, Ron Stoppable. Dr. Drakken recognized this, but shrugged it off. Ranting was just too much fun.

"Oh, I'll tell you anyway," he stated with a crafty smile as if he knew that, secretly, Shego did indeed wish to hear his plans. Drakken cleared his throat to prepare for his speech. "With this cyber-electronic circuit, I will be able to power any one of my vicious robots, with the mere thoughts from my head! Mwahahahahahahahaha!"

This evil laugh went on for about thirty seconds or so before Shego couldn't take it anymore. "SHHHHHH!" she shushed him.

Drakken stopped and peered over her shoulder at the article she was reading. "What in there could possibly be more exciting than what I'm telling you?"

"Oh lots of stuff," Shego replied. "Like—ooh—new spatulas are on sale! And—oh my gosh—look at those packets of notebook paper!" she mocked.

Drakken got the message and scowled at her. "You are very mean to me, you know that?"

"Yup." Shego replied without looking up at him.

Dr. Drakken smoothed out his hair with his hand as he tried to find some come back. Nothing came to mind, so he left the room with his new piece of machinery. Shego smiled to herself, she hated everything in the catalog that she was looking in at that moment, but she had finally gotten the annoying laughter and ranting to stop.

OOOOO

That same day after school…

Kim Possible and her best friend/sidekick Ron Stoppable were seated inside their favorite restaurant, Bueno Nacho – as always. After school, that was their hang out. All of a sudden, Kim's backpack began ringing. The teenager swallowed the section of burrito in her mouth before turning it on.

"Hey Wade," she greeted. "What's up?"

"Trouble," The boy on the screen replied anxiously. "Someone's stolen a very important micro chip from a Dr. Otto Octavious," he stated taking a slurp from a soft drink sitting on his computer desk.

"Octavious…that name rings a bell…" Kim mused as Ron bent over the screen interested in the message.

"It should. He came the closest to containing and controlling fusion."

"That's great! Is he living the good life now?" Kim asked.

"Hardly. I said 'came the closest to.' He never actually succeeded." Wade corrected. "His fusion reactor blew and killed his wife. Supposedly he was dead, but according to this, he obviously isn't."

"That's sad." Kim said lowering her eyes. "About him losing his rep. and wife and everything. Not about him still living." She corrected herself.

"It is." Wade said.

"We'll leave immediately." Kim declared standing from her seat and scooping up the garbage from the table.

"But there's one thing you should know. The fusion reactor also fused his metal actuators to his spine, and they aren't funny business. He's now known as the infamous 'Doc Ock.'"

"That guy?" Ron exclaimed as Rufus poked his head out of the boy's shirt pocket. "Oh man he is so cool!"

"Ron, he's infamous. He does bad things." Kim said disturbed at how he viewed the mad scientist.

"Sure, but he's still awesome! I wonder if I could get his autograph. And since that he lives in the same city as Spiderman, I can also—"

"Wait," Kim interrupted. "Who's 'Spiderman'?"

"Oh he's this other really awesome dude that can shoot webs out of his wrists and climb walls and stuff. He, oh Kimmalla, is a superhero. So it's ok for me to worship _him_." Ron replied.

Kim placed a hand on her head in frustration. "Wade, why haven't I been told that there's a web-slinging super hero around?" she asked feeling as if she had been under a rock and missed out on half of the world's happenings.

Wade shrugged. "You never asked." He replied. "Anyway, he said it was urgent. I suggest you give that guy a visit."

"Ok," Kim agreed.

"But be careful. As I said before, he's no joke." Wade warned eyeing Kim.

"OK, I will. Where does he live?"

"New York City."

to be continued...


	5. The Visit

**_Chapter five - The Visit_**

The doorbell chimed throughout the house. Lying on a couch by a wall in the living room was Otto. His head was hung over the armrest with Peter sitting over him and carefully working with a small screwdriver-like tool to attach the different parts. They had decided to build what they could on the inhibitor chip and insert the CEC (cyber-electronic circuit) when possible. In other words, when they could locate one on the internet, purchase it, and wait for the time it would take to arrive. Otto hadn't nearly enough money to buy it in the first place, nor Peter. The tentacles had a good grasp on how to get the cash needed but it included a bank, some stealing, and some killing. For that reason, Otto had declined it and now the tentacles were sulking, draped over the couch every which way staring at Peter through the small cone of their pincers, which didn't make working any easier for the college student. The inhibitor chip would have no value without the CEC, sadly. And Peter had debated whether to start without all the pieces, but Otto was determined.

"Now carefully screw in the TED adapter. Carefully!" Otto commanded Peter.

Heeding the doctor's words, Peter began turning the screw more gently. The doorbell continued to ring, which pushed the two further on edge. The couch they were at sat directly beside the door, but both of them had their hands full. Rather, Peter had his hands full, Otto had his mind full trying to walk Peter through the steps verbally. The doorbell rang again.

Having someone practically screwing parts into his neck had Dr. Octavious anxious and nervous. And the tentacles constantly trying to talk him out of what he was doing only made things worse. Slap on a topping of never-ceasing "ding-dongs," and you've got a terribly difficult atmosphere for concentrating.

Though Peter didn't have voices in his head constantly talking or anyone messing with the back of his neck, he was equally uptight knowing that he had full control over whether the inhibitor chip was successfully placed. He wiped a few drops of sweat from his forehead. Performing a mechanical surgery was hard work!

"Yes, no—_no!_ _Not that!_" Otto nearly yelled as Peter carefully placed a blue wire back onto the table. "You connect that there, and it will cause an electric shock that would wipe out this micro chip and I don't have the supplies to rebuild it," he growled. The fact that some things some places would cause a disaster bugged Peter as well.

The doorbell rang once again. Otto had been careful to control the tentacles and at this moment, he decided the best way would be to keep them from doing even the smallest of tasks. Obviously, this bored them and they were anxious to do _anything_ that their host wanted.

**_Someone is at the door._**

_**May we open it for them?**_

_**There are two of them there.**_

_**Please may we open the door?**_

_"No. I can't let you," _Otto replied. The bottom left slowly edged towards the doorknob. _"I said 'no'."_ It pulled back.

One of the persons at the door was wearing his doorbell thin…and his nerves. It's hardest to say 'no' to something when you and it want the same thing. Otto wasn't going to be able to endure this much longer. The tentacles knew this and eagerly waited on the verge of striking for him to give in.

"Stop ringing the doorbell!" Otto called through the door. The doorbell stopped for a moment and the doctor rested his eyes.

Ron was about to push the doorbell again when Kim stopped him. "Didn't you hear what he said? He said stop."

Ron looked at her coolly. "Kim, he was the one who called us. Maybe he's being forced to say that." The blonde boy reasoned raising one golden eyebrow.

Kim processed his words before speaking again. "Yes, but then what are we waiting for? Obviously, his kidnappers aren't going to answer the door for us."

"Right."

"So you know what we need to do?"

"Yes," Ron said confidently. He began knocking in an annoying rhythm that seemed to have no end. Kim rolled her eyes. When they said that being blonde didn't affect the capacity of one's brain, they hadn't met Ron.

Otto couldn't stand this anymore. _"Get them to stop knocking on the door and ringing the doorbell!"_ he commanded.

As soon as he had given the tentacles that command, they squealed and the top right thrust through the door catching Ron up by the throat. Otto wasn't sure exactly what he had hit yet and looked up ever so slightly careful not to disturb the unfinished microchip. The two bottom tentacles tore the door into two equal pieces and slammed them to the ground. Then they cracked the door, the wood splintering and creaking with every fold, until it was merely a pile of rubble on the floor. The top left tentacle took the liberty of reaching around the wall to the doorbell and tearing it from the siding. It saw the red haired girl staring at it and threw it at her. As the scrap of metal fell to the ground, the tentacle hissed and went back in to join the rest.

**_There. Now it is impossible to ring the doorbell or knock on the door in the future. _**The tentacles declared in unison simply leaving Otto to think about the act of kindness and reconsider getting rid of their advice, help, and comfort.

With an effort, Ron Stoppable craned his neck towards Kim Possible. "I feel sorry for his kidnappers," he wheezed. Ron tried to pry the claws from his throat as he gasped. The tentacle held firm and Ron struggled even more.

_"Oh please," _Otto thought. _"I'm not crushing you."_ "What do you want?" Otto demanded with a scowl. "I'm very busy."

Kim met his attitude with a dish of her own. She crossed her arms and stuck her hip out to one side. "First of all, I want you to let go of my friend," she said, the hero inside of her taking charge. The man was being unbelievably rude. They had come to help him with his urgent problem he called about, and he greets them by choking Ron.

Without an expression on his face, Otto gave commands for the tentacle to let go of Ron. It did and the boy dropped to the ground. Ron then struggled up and immediately hid behind his friend. Kim was conscious of this, but ignored it and stared down at the man on the couch who had rested his head again.

"And you're the one who called us, right? Or do you have a tentacled cousin somewhere else in the city?" She asked.

Otto furrowed his brow. _"Snappy, isn't she?"_

Peter, noticing the confusion, set the tool in his hand down on the coffee table and stood up. He raised his hands and stood between them yet tried not to block the man's vision. " I'm Peter Parker. I called you," he stated. Kim's eyebrows rose. "On behalf of Dr. Octavious," he said stepping over to let the hero get a good look at the man.

Dr. Octavious now wasn't so angry any more but bewildered. What did Peter think he would accomplish by calling this midriff-showing teenager? Why, she didn't look past sixteen! How on earth was she going to be of any help? Peter sensed that he had some explaining to do to both sides of the argument.

Otto curled his finger towards himself motioning Peter. Peter got the message and stooped down closer to him. Otto grabbed his shirt collar and pulled him closer roughly. "Why the _heck_ did you call these two?" he exclaimed in an angry whisper.

Peter took hold of Otto's hand and pulled his collar free. "Because, Dr. Octavious, I've heard about them, and thought—no—_knew_ they could help us," he said firmly at the man's unnecessary aggressiveness. Otto said nothing but stiffened his mouth into a single line and he let him stand back up.

Kim walked ahead inside leaving Ron a direct target for the tentacles. The boy's eyes enlarged and he swallowed hard. There was nothing to hide him. When he finally gathered the sense to follow Kim into the house however, he looked down at Otto's annoyed face, and remembered. Ron wriggled his hand around his pocket. The boy found the scrap of paper and pen he had stuffed in there earlier.

"Hey Doc Ock," he began as he plopped on the back of the couch causing Otto to jerk and the many loose pieces on his back flew through the air. The top left tentacle instinctively grabbed the metal tray and tried to catch them. Though it did manage to catch most, a few had fallen and the top right now worked on picking them up as Otto arose. He could only pray that the parts hadn't broken and that he wouldn't do something to that boy that he'd regret.

The man stood fully up, which made him look rather large and mean with the frustrated facial expression as Ron stuck the paper and pen in his face. "Would you please sign this?" he asked eagerly.

Kim had gotten tired of this. "Ron, focus!" she reminded him. Ron nodded and sat down on the couch in an upright fashion.

It was obvious that neither of the high schoolers was going to leave any time soon, and since the boy had taken his seat, Otto walked over to the wooden chair that his coat was draped over. They didn't _need _to see what his back looked like after the accident; although, they already had gotten a good look at the scarred, painstaking flesh above the harness. He slipped his ratty trench coat on and lectured himself for being so rash.

"I'm sorry," Otto apologized. "It was—" he didn't know how to explain it. Rather than going into the details, he took the safe route. "—My actuators." Neither Kim nor Ron seemed to get what he was talking about. This would make explaining harder. "When Peter informed you," he glanced over at the college student standing near a wall, "Did he tell you my condition and accident?" he asked in a truly apologetic tone.

"No, but the guy manning my website told me about what happened with the fusion reactor. As far as your condition, he just said that an important microchip had been stolen from your lab, that it was urgent, and that—that you—"

"To be careful around me? That I'm dangerous?" he cut her off.

"Yes," Kim finished.

"He has quite the right to," Otto assured her. "You've heard about my mechanical arms, right?"

"Wade, my website watcher I was telling you about, told me that you had them out your back and how they got there, but not much else."

Otto nodded logging the information away. "OK. Now, I'm sure you don't want me to ramble on in scientific formulas and all that." Kim smiled a silent 'thank you.' "So I'll just give you the basics.

"Before the accident happened, an inhibitor chip was created to protect my mind and keep it in control of my actuators. But it was destroyed," _"Along with everything else." _He wanted to say. "Along with that, the actuators were, for lack of better word, 'welded' to my spinal cord. Therefore removing them would be impossible. Now, I don't want to get into details, but they can interfere with my better judgment as was apparent when I attacked—" The top right tentacle stuck its nose in Ron's pants pocket and opened his wallet. "Ron Stoppable."

Ron was terrified. He didn't dare move until the actuator was back by Dr. Octavious. "Kim, that thing just picked my pocket," Ron whispered still afraid to move lest those metal arms wreak havoc against him.

"How did you do that?" Kim asked curiously.

"The actuator scanned over Mr. Stoppable's ID card and uploaded the information into my mind," he said. Otto always enjoyed teaching others—who were willing to learn—about his projects. But even so, he knew that he was wasting their time. Dr. Octavious fished around in his pockets for his wallet. "How much for your services? Are you paid by the hour?"

Kim stopped him, "No, no, no. We do this on our free time. No charge," She said with a kind smile.

Otto grinned back with relief. "You truly are amazing." _"And it's good you don't charge because otherwise I'd be in debt."_ He thought.

"Oh no big," Kim blushed. She glanced down at her watch. It had gotten later than she thought. "Dr. Octavious," she began, "Do you have any evidence towards who it may have been?"

Otto shrugged. "Not yet at least. I hadn't been looking for evidence. I was only concerned with the CEC. I thought I had misplaced it, and that thought still tugs at my mind. But I _did_ scan for it already and it's nowhere to be found." He gave a warning glance towards the tentacles that all faced him. "Or at least I'm told," he mumbled to them. The tentacles pretended they hadn't heard that statement and turned back to the other three people.

Kim nodded. "Where did it happen?" she asked.

"In my laboratory," Otto answered leading the group down towards his lab.

The tentacles wanted badly to tear the intruders apart, but under their host's strict commands, they barely were restrained and remained on edge. Like children teasing a rattlesnake, Kim and Ron were on the verge of being struck. The tentacles, in some sense, actually looked like rattlesnakes—the piercing red sensors in the place of eyes, their metal jaws open and ready, the long slenderness of the jointed necks, and of course those hisses which seemed enough alone to send the hairs on one's neck on end.

A large metal door at the end of the hallway came into view and the doctor flicked on the light. Peter walked directly behind Otto and in front of team Impossible as a human barrier in case things became rough. Otto approached the letter pad imbedded in the wall to the side of the doorway.

As he typed in the code, he stopped and let out a sigh. R—O—S—that was all it took to get him emotional again. _"Come on Otto, this is pathetic. Right now, there is no room for your emotions. It's only a name…only a name…"_ Otto swallowed his fear away and stood taller to type in the 'I—E' that made the code complete.

After hitting 'Enter,' the red light near the handle of the large door turned green. Otto turned the knob, opened the door, and standing inside, let everyone pass before closing it again.

The laboratory was magnificent, but lonely—like so many other parts of the house. Otto sighed again and closed his eyes afraid to see any more.

"_Please dull the pain, if you can."_ He pleaded the tentacles.

_**Pain? You are not in pain.**_

"_Oh, but I am. I can't seem to let go the loss of my Rosie."_ He explained. _"It has been burning my soul for months."_

_**We are equipped for the physical and mental realms.**_

**_Not the spiritual._** The bottom left stated flatly. Otto knew that, of course, but if there was any possible way that they could, he was going to take it.

After looking around the spacious room and at all the equipment scattered along the floor amongst random papers, Kim turned to Otto. "What happened here?" she asked picking around in the rubble. "Did they trash the place?"

"No, I had been searching before," Otto replied watching the teenager carefully as she poked around in his personal papers. He didn't wish her to be looking in all his files; she was only here to find the microchip. Although Peter had so much faith in her, he knew that her snooping had a purpose. Peter would stop her if it didn't. Wouldn't he? Or was it just a way to send Otto to jail? No, it had to do with his situation. Peter would never do that, especially since he had assured Otto that he'd help him. The one thing Peter didn't do was betrayed, and Otto would have to trust him on that.

Kim Possible stopped walking and strained her eyes down upon a turned file cabinet. A small black shimmer was visible on the corner of one of the warped drawers. She picked it up and toyed with it between two fingers. Kim pulled out her Kimmunicator and pushed a button at the top, which opened a small scanner compartment. She carefully placed the hair on the sensor pad and pushed the tray in.

"Wade, I've found something and dropped it in the scanner. What do you make of it?"

Wade typed quickly and stared intently at his computer screen. The beeps of results could be heard which assured Kim that she had found something truly valuable to their search. A final beep came and Wade smiled at the success. "It's raven-black, human, and female," he smirked. "Any guesses?" A picture of Shego popped up shrinking the camera on Wade to the corner of the screen.

Ron had been silently peering over his friend's shoulder yet Kim didn't seem to notice until now. "Shego?" Ron exclaimed. Wade nodded. Ron shrugged. "Well, that would explain a lot!"

"Explain what?" Kim asked turning to him.

"Well, this big warped thing over here." Ron replied leading them over to a twisted metal machine that had the appearance of a haunted house.

Otto's eyebrows rose and then fell back down. "It wasn't ruined by this 'Shego.'" He stated. Otto went on. "That—" he cleared his throat. "—That was the fusion reactor." Kim's face went pale. So _this _was that failed attempt.

She was surprised to hear this. Apparent by the man's face, there were some strong emotions attached to that hunk of metal. She stared back up at it and studied the wide arches warped and molten. She could only imagine how horrible that night must have been. Kim bit her lip and hung her head. If Dr. Octavious didn't want to talk more on it, she was going to let the subject pass.

"I've got the coordinates if you're interested," Wade said to break the silence. Kim was glad he did also.

"OK," she said fighting off the quiver in her voice. A map appeared on the screen and a blue dot began beeping. She glanced back over at Otto who was now touching a cement beam to the side of the fusion reactor. He stared blankly at it as he moved his hand up and down over the surface.

Wade, once again, broke this trance. "Paris, France," he said.

"OK. We'd better get going," Kim said to get Ron away from the scientific equipment and also to assure Peter and Dr. Octavious that they took the matter seriously. She was reluctant to speak to the doctor again, for fear of hurting him further. "Is there a specific deadline that you need to have this thing back?" she asked.

"I'd like to have it back by this Friday." He replied. "Because, as you know, I'm not nearly as strong as I used to be with them, and they might take advantage of it, get me under control, and keep me from climbing back on top. So, in other words, as soon as you can get it back. But I—I can sustain dominance 'til Friday." Otto assured them.

"Hey, that's kind of weird. If Friday were two days later, it would be Friday the Thirteenth." As always, Ron saw the interesting, but still unimportant fact of the situation.

"Yeah, that is weird." Peter agreed and smiled at Otto to hopefully cheer him up. Otto smiled and nodded, but Peter knew that he wasn't truly happy. _"At least he made an effort."_ Peter thought to himself.

"Well, with that said, we're off," with that, Kim walked towards the door. Expecting Ron to follow, she didn't look back. Ron, on the other hand, ran up to Otto and stuck the piece of paper in his face again.

"Hurry and sign this before I have to go!" he whispered.

"Come on Ron! The man's in a hurry!" Kim called from down the hall. Ron glanced at the doorway and then up at the man.

"Where's your pen?" Otto asked.

Ron snapped his fingers. "Rats! It's back in the living room." He sighed and stuffed the paper back into his pocket. "I _will_ get an autograph from you," Ron said determined. With that, he ran off towards the door.

Peter ran after the two and caught up to them half way down the hallway. "Hey! Wait up!" he called after them. Kim and Ron turned and stopped. Peter caught up to them. "I want to come with you."

"Listen Peter," Kim began, "It's nice that you want to help your friend and all, but these people are dangerous. We'd better go alone."

What could Peter do to get them to let him come along? He knew he could help them! But, on the other hand, he couldn't tell them he was Spiderman; that would be foolish.

"I work for the Daily Bugle as a photographer. As you can imagine, there are a lot of people who aren't happy with my work, mostly villains. I know how to deal with them," Peter assured her. Kim looked him in the eye trying to peer into his soul as the old saying goes. Peter caught this glance. He knew he had to throw something else out there for her to grab onto. "I know Spiderman." He stated. "He's out on top of that building." Peter declared pointing over Ron's head towards a mass of buildings.

Ron, being naturally curious, studied the boy's wrist. A white patch—almost like a spider web—was over the vein. "Hey, what's wrong with your arm?" he said out loud.

"What?" Peter looked at his wrist forgetting about the mark he had gotten.

"It looks bad. I'll scan it to make sure it's OK," Kim said concerned. Peter's heart leapt into his throat as he attempted to stop the scan.

"No, wait!" he exclaimed. It was too late. Kim Possible was already looking over the report.

It stated what the mark was, thus giving away his abilities. No sooner had it hit the screen that Ron looked in. There was no telling whether that boy would be able to keep a secret or not. Kim looked back up at him in disbelief.

"You're Spiderman?" she asked scarcely being able to speak. Peter put a finger to her mouth.

"Please don't tell," he pleaded. "If my enemies found out about my secret identity, I know they'd try to hurt my friends and family. I don't think I could forgive myself if they did." Peter, although not intending, had the biggest, glassiest puppy-dog eyes Kim had ever seen.

Kim smiled and held out her had. "Deal." Peter shook it and held out his hand for Ron to shake. Ron did nothing of the sort but once again took out a piece of paper. "Ron," she chided, "Leave the poor guy alone." Ron lowered the paper and stuck it in his pocket once again.

"So that's how you know Spiderman," Kim teased with a smirk. Peter had to smile at this too. "Now that I know you can take it, would you like to come with us?" she asked mockingly. Peter nodded. There went one burden off his back.

Just as they were about to depart from the building completely, Peter's sharp hearing picked up a slight bang and he remembered Dr. Octavious. "You two go ahead. I'll catch up." He urged them. Kim and Ron nodded and Peter walked back down the hallway towards the source of the noise.

Inside of the laboratory, Otto was still at the fusion reactor staring at a cement block set to support the roof. He struck it with the side of his hand full of rage and then rested his forehead weakly on it. "Dr. Octavious?" Peter called softly.

"Get away from me!" he exclaimed in anger. The tentacles hissed and shrieked as they moved in front of him protecting their host. Peter didn't move any further, but he didn't back down. Through all the arms, he could vaguely see the man draw shaky breaths as tears threatened to come and more assertive ones ran down his cheek. Otto aggressively brushed the tears away with the palm of his hand and looked back at the wall.

"I just wanted to tell you that I'm going to be going with them and that you can call me if you need to." Peter held out a scrap of paper with a phone number scribbled onto it. Otto looked up skeptically but in the end the top left tentacle took it from Peter's hand and stuffed it in his coat pocket. The tentacles lessened and Otto breathed deeply.

"There are still stains here," he mumbled to his friend slowly switching his gaze. "The blood of my Rosie is still on the surface." Otto ran his finger along the trail of blood that curved and snaked this way and that all the way down the beam. Peter watched his finger intently. No wonder the man was hurting so much over seeing this room again.

"I just want you to know that I'm here for you." Peter told him. "And I won't let you down."

"But there's no telling if the same is true of me," he muttered into the cement. He finally reverted his gaze back up to Peter. "Peter, promise me that—if by chance we don't make it in time, the tentacles take over again, and I don't recover from it for over two days—promise that you'll destroy me." Peter didn't like what he was hearing. His head began to turn away from him.

What was he supposed to say? 'Sure, I'll kill you?' No way. There was absolutely no way he was going to kill Dr. Octavious. It was hard enough to do it the first time, and he didn't even get that far—not that he was intending to—but it was hard even at the level of beating him up!

Otto grabbed his shoulder and turned him back around to face him. "Promise me, Parker. I don't want to live as a monster." Peter's shoulders dropped. Otto's eyes remained stern and pleading and didn't seem to blink once.

"I promise," he agreed. As soon as Peter had said that, he regretted it. Whatever psychic force had caused him to say those two words was gone now and, more than anything, Peter wanted to take back what he said. Otto, though, seemed relieved to hear his death sentence when he rubbed the boy's shoulder thoughtfully.

"OK," he said with a warm smile. Otto withdrew his hand to let Peter be on his way. Not sure exactly what to do, Peter returned a respectful smile and walked calmly out the steel door.

Three days, that was all. Three days to travel to France, find the thief, defeat him, bring the CEC back, and insert it into the inhibitor chip before Dr. Octavious could be overtaken completely. And even so, there was no telling that the tentacles would wait 'til Friday; they might strike at any time. This didn't bring much hope to Peter, but he hung onto the small bit that it left. If he went through with this, if he won, he could save the doctor and accomplish exactly what he had wanted to do in the beginning.

to be continued...


	6. Time is of the Essence

**_Chapter six - Time is of the Essence _**

After a short period of running, Peter caught up to the two. They all stood on a dock and appeared to be looking for something through the sky. All was quiet and Peter wondered what they were doing.

Answering his thoughts, Kim spoke up, "Wade said our transport would meet us here, but I don't see anything," she peered into the clouds.

Often times, the computer genius would send transportation for the team but not tell them what was coming. And the results varied as widely as a rocket sent from NASA to a donkey in Arizona. There was really no telling what Wade could cook up this time.

Kim wasn't one for waiting. When someone was in danger, she wanted to jump right in and save them. Waiting for someone to pick her up—and that someone being late—was killing her. The thought of swimming to Europe had crossed her mind once or twice…

Suddenly, a small black figure cut through the clouds. It sliced and whirled in silent acrobatics. Peter watched it partly waiting for it to begin fire. To his relief, the aircraft never did. Instead, it pulled near the dock drawing up water with the blades and spraying it at the three on the dock.

A rope ladder dropped from the helicopter into the water; Kim looked around at the crowd gathering. Several flashes struck her eyes. It was apparent that leaving anonymously was impossible in New York City.

Ron climbed into the aircraft first and Kim took second when Peter made no effort to cut in front of her. She stopped halfway up the ladder to look back down at Peter. Kim raised her eyebrows asking silently if he were impressed. Peter smiled back but didn't answer her as she climbed totally into the plane.

Everyone strapped into the seats as the pilot flew back into the sky. It took only a couple minutes to get going quickly through the clouds. Once the helicopter was smoothly flying, Kim Possible unbuckled her seat belt and carefully made her way up to the front of the plane. An elderly pilot sat flying the large helicopter and didn't even notice her at his side until she said something. "Thank you so much for the lift."

"Oh, don't mention it!" the pilot said managing a thankful smile at the hero. "It was nothing after what you've done for me."

Kim glanced up at the ceiling bashfully. "Anyone could have fished a crew out of a burning plane sinking in the ocean." She said. The pilot said nothing further as his trained eyes went to the sky. Kim walked back through the small doorway and took a seat.

She rested her eyes and sighed. Her week had been crazy. Finals for the first quarter, intense cheerleading meetings every day after school to prepare for the upcoming football game, an attack from Lord Monkey Fist, it was amazing even to her how much stress her body could handle. And even though she was flying off to yet another mission, the time it would take to get to France was an excellent time to catch up on the sleep she had missed.

Ron actively searched the seats and floor holding that same piece of paper as before. Peter watched him interested in what the boy was doing. Ron found a small, bashed pencil wedged underneath the seat. "Aha," he said and grabbed for it. Ron sat back up and looked eagerly at Peter. "Could you please sign this?" Kim noticed this happening again, but closed her eyes again to go to sleep.

"Sure," Peter agreed taking the slip of paper and pencil from Ron. He scribbled 'Spiderman' across it and handed the autographed object back to the boy. Ron smiled and stuck it in his pocket.

"Now I just have to find a way to get the Doc's," he mused. Peter smiled at how the boy viewed Dr. Octavious and it warmed his heart to find at least one person, other than himself, that thought he was still something.

Peter pulled out his cell phone. He attempted to turn it on but it refused without only a flash of color to tell him off. His shoulders dropped and he realized that he had forgotten that the battery was dead. Thank goodness he had brought the charging cable. The life of his phone wouldn't have been nearly as important to Peter if it weren't for the fact that it was the only way Otto knew of contacting them. Of course, if it _were_ dead, Otto was surely bright enough to come up with another method of reaching them if the matter were important.

Peter assumed they would be checking into a hotel and when they did, he would have to remind himself to charge the battery. Sadly, this would mean he would have to leave it in the charger—no matter who tried to contact them.

The college student felt his shirt and checked inside his jacket pocket to make sure that he hadn't forgotten his Spidey suit. Peter was relieved to find it there and settled into the cushion seats. He liked Kim's idea of sleeping the entire way there.

Several hours passed and the pilot, after surveying the topography below, turned to look at the team. "We are over Paris, France," he announced as Kim and Peter began to stir. "Now would be a good time to jump."

"Copy that," Kim said standing to her feet and stretching her back. Ron, who had been keeping himself busy by tapping on the inside of the helicopter, reluctantly arose along with Kim and Peter. Rufus stayed asleep in his pocket and Ron didn't have the heart to awake him for the ride. Kim grabbed three parachutes, handed one to Peter, Ron, and kept one for her.

"OK, you two ready?" she yelled over the wind as the door opened. Ron and Peter nodded. Kim leaned out of the open doorway looking over the ground, then jumped followed by the other two.

The air blew fiercely as they waited the desired time of release. The free oxygen rolled over them so quickly that it was a struggle to breathe. The time came and each person pulled the string and released their parachutes. The giant white sheets looked very much like blossoms floating freely downward in a light spring breeze—nothing forcing them in any direction.

The earth came sooner than expected. Kim and Peter landed safely on the ground and discarded their parachutes. Kim looked this way and that; there was no sign of Ron. Peter picked up Kim's emotion and also scanned over the terrain.

"Where's Ron?" he asked. Before Kim had time to answer, a monotonous voice came from the distance.

"Over here," it said. Kim and Peter rushed over to the tall tree overshadowing the grass. Ron hung from one of the large branches by his parachute and appeared to have given up the struggle.

Rufus climbed out of Ron's pants pocket and jumped up and down on his helmet. "Help!" he screamed in a vaguely understandable accent.

Reaching into her pocket, Kim pulled out a laser cleverly disguised as lipstick. She aimed it at the parachute strands. "Hang on, Ron," she said as she twisted the base.

A beam of red light shot out from the tip, which cut Ron from the parachute. Rufus held onto the boy with all he had as Ron fell to the ground. "Ow…" Ron rubbed his head. The fall wasn't that far, but one couldn't tell once the pain began to kick in. It might as well have been fifty feet up with the way the impact felt.

A humorous smile formed on Kim's face. "Well, what did you think I was going to do? Carry you?"

"Yeah, that would have been nicer," Ron replied standing up and brushing himself off.

"Come on, it wasn't that far down," she argued.

"It is when you're not ready to fall."

Kim shrugged. "Whatever. I need to look at the map again." she exchanging her laser lipstick for the Kimmunicator. Pushing the button, she looked at the screen and studied the dot becoming smaller and smaller. "Wade," Kim began as the super genius appeared on the screen. "What's happening to the target?"

Wade studied the screen. "It looks as if they aren't in Paris anymore. "He stated.

"Not in Paris? Then where are they?" Peter asked now becoming nervous but not showing it.

"I don't know. As far as I can tell, they're still in France, but who knows if that'll stay true." Wade said in dismay.

"But how could they move from one place to another so quickly?" Kim asked—her tension building.

Wade sighed in frustration at his own mind for not figuring it out earlier. "They planted a false tracker," He said furiously through his teeth.

"We don't have time for a false tracker! Dr. Octavious is wasting away in New York! Can't you cancel out all the false ones?" Kim asked desperately. Her hand went to her forehead. Here came that feeling of helplessness again.

"Maybe…" Wade typed ferociously at his keyboard. After a couple seconds, his shoulders dropped. "Drakken has these trackers planted everywhere! It'll take forever to check all of them out!"

"OK, let's go one step at a time," Peter said calmly. "Do we know what's around each position?"

"Yes," Wade replied.

Kim began to catch his drift. "So if we cancel out the ones that wouldn't be secrete lair material, we can lessen the sites!"

"Exactly," Peter said with a smile. "And the kind of equipment that it takes to operate that kind of technology narrows the possibilities also."

"Good thinking," Wade said. "OK, let's get started."

After a long while of deciding whether a land development was mad scientist material or not, the team got the list narrowed down to three places. Unfortunately, these three places were spread throughout France. It would take a while to check them all out.

Kim, Peter, and Ron walked to the closest convenient stop was located: The Eiffel Tower. The possibilities were limitless. Dr. Drakken could build anywhere below it and use its metal tip as a ray or whatever he wanted. Despite the potential of that hideout, no mad scientist and evil lair was imbedded inside.

Then they checked the next site: a large abandoned warehouse. This sounded like a bright place to hold a laboratory. But, again, it was found to be empty except for the rats and spiders that occupied the space.

These walks through the congested streets and investigation in vain had taken up their entire day. They would have to turn in for the night if any of them expected to be able to fight when the time came. Dr. Octavious was strong, he would understand. Tomorrow they would track down the last spot: The English Channel. A several hour trip from the edge of France they were in. And tomorrow, they would get the cyber-electronic circuit back.

The team was forced to spend the night in a hotel and every minute ate into them. Peter had placed his cell phone in the charger and joined Kim and Ron for dinner. But while he was out, the phone rang…

OOOOO

Dr. Octavious sat at the dining room table. He slumped only in the slightest bit and moved even less. The tentacles were like scorpions on his shoulder—their features cold and calm, the shiver sent as their small needles crawled – pulling the strings – closer and closer to his vulnerability. If he made one wrong move, one wrong thought, they could sting him with things so much worse than pain.

The room remained silent except the continuous whispers in Otto's mind.

_**You do not want to get rid of our voices.**_

_**We are your friends.**_

_**We could accomplish so much, be so much, why waste it all?**_

_**You are wrong to make this decision Otto, you are wrong to ignore us.**_

Otto, his hands sweaty and tremmoring, picked up the phone. He took the piece of paper from his pocket that held Peter's number on it. He punched it into the phone and waited for the boy to pick up. As it continued ringing, Otto set it back on the table.

_"I can't do it."_

**_You can._**

_**And you will.**_

_**Call him up.**_

_**Tell him the truth.**_

_**That you want to keep us.**_

**_Call him._**

Otto picked up the phone again and held it to his ear just in time to hear the receiver start. "Hello," he managed to croak out. "This is Octavious…I…changed…um…my mind about…"

**_Say it._**

_**Say it now.**_

Otto felt a thread of strength, only enough strength to do what he had to do, though. "I…I don't think I can handle the actuators quite as well as I thought I could." _"Which is exactly what happened last time." _He thought. "Please hurry back with the CEC. I don't think it'll be more than twelve hours or so. And thank you again for all your trouble in helping me." Otto hung up the receiver and rested back on the chair yet not relaxed.

He wanted to sleep, sleep through it all and be free from dealing with it, free from the world, free from the tentacles.

OOOOO

After the dinner, Peter made his way back up to his room. He didn't bother turning on the light and fell onto the bed. He flipped off his shoes and rested his eyes. A flashing green light on his nightstand forced him to open them back up. Peter took the phone in his hand and turned on the screen. When he found that a message had been left on it, Peter immediately selected it and put it to his ear to listen. When he heard the recording, he realized that all the slack that they had wallowed in was gone.

to be continued...


	7. As if Things Weren't Complicated Enough

**_Chapter seven - As if Things Weren't Complicated Enough_**

The midnight moon shown brilliantly over the clear water. The night lay silent as if all creatures respected the moment. No birds sang, no people talked, in fact—no one even passed by the body of water. Everything stayed silent and peaceful. Just below the water rested an underground lair. Inside this lair, in a temporary bedroom, lay a mound of covers. It moved up and then settled back down around the black flowing hair. A green hand lay atop the pile of quilts never once moving. The hypnotizing silence was broken, however, by a loud scratching yelp.

**"Shego!"**

Shego opened her eyes and groaned. She yanked back the covers that once posed as her dome of comfort and stomped down the hall. The process of her tangled hair falling into her face and she pushing it away happened several times before the hallway ended.

Blinded by the sudden light, Shego shielded her eyes and tried to make out the figure in front of her even though her eyes wanted badly to go back into slumber.

When they finally adjusted, Shego saw a large robot holding Dr. Drakken, by his leg, above the ground. This didn't surprise her. But why would he call her? He knew how to shut his robots down himself.

"What do you want?" she exploded with anger—pushed severely by how tired she was.

The blue-skin man looked at her worriedly. "Shego! The cyber-electronic circuit you stole for me is _not working_!" he panicked.

Shego raised an eyebrow. "I kind of figured that when I saw you dangling like a curtain," she teased. Drakken groaned unappreciative of her comment.

"It should have worked! I calculated everything down perfectly!" he argued.

"Well, do you even know how to use it?" Shego asked.

"Of course I know how to use it, Shego. I wasn't born yesterday."

"You got that right," Shego muttered under her breath.

"What?" Drakken inquired in annoyance.

"Maybe you left a piece back at the house," she offered. "After all, you can be pretty oblivious sometimes—"

"_Enough_!" Drakken demanded. Unfortunately, the robot took this as a command and dropped him to the floor. After the impact, Drakken stood back up, with some trouble, and shook off his dizziness. "I'd know if I forgot a piece at the house or not. I'm not _that_ stupid."

He walked over to his worktable with Shego following close behind. Drakken began rummaging through the papers, randomly reading notes to find anything that might explain his robot's weird behavior. Only a couple pages into it, he found a stunning conclusion.

"Aha! You forgot something back at the house!" he accused pointing to Shego.

"No, I only pick up what you tell me to Chief, and you just said the cyber-electronic thing," Shego defended.

"You should have seen the piece and brought it," Drakken lectured. "What do you think I pay you for?"

"For doing whatever you tell me, oh wise one, and you said nothing whatsoever about anything else," Shego cut him off. Seeing her employer's hard and stubborn scowl, she gave a frustrated sigh. "OK Mr. I'm-Never-Wrong, what do you need?"

"An 02422 brass motherboard," he replied.

"Ah," Shego commented. "I've got a question: why do you give majorly long names to itty-bitty little pieces of junk?"

"It's not junk, Shego! This 02422—"

"Oi! I'll get it!" she said with a groan. "Same place as last time?"

"Yes. I've heard from a reliable source that the scientist has taken ownership of the house again," Drakken said.

An evil smile appeared on Shego's face. "More of a challenge, eh? Fun." She walked off down the hallway back to her bedroom. Drakken stopped her.

"Where are you going? The door's that way." He pointed to the opposite doorway.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm not breaking into a top secret lab in my pajamas, OK?" Shego said disappearing back into the darkness.

Drakken folded his arms and rolled his eyes. "You and your fashion needs," he grumbled.

_OOOOO_

_3:48 A.M—Back in New York City…_

A darkness-clad shadow dropped onto a roof. Its green eyes seemed to glow with the moonlight shimmering off of the irises. The shadow slithered down the slope and hung from the gutter. A green plasma, from its hands, lit up the face with a creepy green glow so now it was apparent that it was Dr. Drakken's sidekick, Shego.

Her hand melted the glass window with ease until the gap was large enough to crawl through. Shego jumped from the gutter into the house making barely any sound on the hard wood flooring. She stood up and walked down the dark hallway.

"OK, 02422 brass thingy," She whispered to herself—unknowingly, trying to create some form of noise to hide beneath. Shego took but another step when she heard something. Something faint, yet threatening. _Thump, scuff. Thump, scuff._ Footsteps. Out of reflex, Shego sank into the wall and her eyes adjusted to the level of darkness until they were functioning at full capacity. What she saw, though, really was no reason to get excited about.

That reclusive scientist her employer had told her about seemed to be at the fridge—probably for a late midnight snack. He turned not one light on in which to gather his food. The man didn't look at all threatening. He was obviously not a fighter, and probably wouldn't notice till a while after when she grabbed the machinery; he didn't look as if he even noticed her! Maybe this wasn't going to be nearly as exciting as she had hoped.

The man set a carton of milk onto the counter. Shego silently shrugged and got started down the hall. At this rate, she might just get back in time to get a few more hours sleep. She quickened her pace; it's not like the scientist would really notice. He didn't even know she existed, much less that she was directly behind him—

A long metal snake—with an ear-piercing screech—shot in front of her and went through the wall. Shego, not knowing what to do, slowly turned to see the man facing her. Though it was dark, she could make out his hard features set in as scowl as he flipped on a dim light.

The light revealed three other metal snakes all slithering around the scientist hissing, chirping, and moving with personality. Shego came to her senses and leaped over the metal arm only to see another move in front of her. She rolled on the ground to avoid them just as another soared for her just barely grazing her head. In fact, if she hadn't have ducked, there was no doubt in her mind that he would have torn her head off without a second thought. The first tentacle to attack released the wall to lash for her again. Shego jumped out of the way frantically and it caught her ankle.

The actuator mercilessly threw—not simply tossed—but threw her to the opposite end of the room sending her through the pots and pans that hung from the ceiling in the kitchen, and also through a wooden cabinet-like bookcase. The glass shattered around her as she hit the opposing wall. Books fell, pans still rattled, and she was hesitant to get back up. This decision, however, was followed up with the bottom left tentacle grabbing her ankle again and throwing her to the refrigerator. A horrible, metal arm held around her stomach and another's jaws were tensed—less than a foot from her face—ready to tear her to shreds if she threatened to make a wrong move.

Shego could barely make out the heavily set figure behind the glowing red light of the tentacle. "What were you doing?" the man growled. "It isn't good to steal." His words were calm, yet threatening.

Shego remained still. She was afraid—actually afraid! It wasn't a feeling she was used to experiencing. Drakken should have told her about what to expect with this guy. He should have told her that this scientist had four metal arms. Of course, he probably forgot—as he did in many cases—oh well. He'd pay later. At this moment, though, Shego needed to focus not on how to get revenge on her employer, but how to escape this man's metallic grip.

The scientist remained silent as if awaiting an answer. He looked deathly angry with her. By the looks of it, he probably knew that she had taken the last piece from him as well.

"You shouldn't have come. Because now I'll have to kill you," he said through the strangely calm anger in his voice.

**_She has gotten in our way._**

_**She does not deserve to live.**_

_**Her death will be sweet.**_

_**As the saying goes: "Revenge is sweet."**_

_**This will take your mind off of tonight.**_

"I need something to calm my nerves." A wicked smile crept onto his face. "And this will pose the satisfying therapy that I need."

**_Let us kill her. _**

The top free tentacle shot out a blade and the smile was still present on the doctor's face. It soared for Shego with such amazing speed that she almost let it stab through her heart and into the fridge. Instead, out of reflex, Shego shot a green laser from both of her hands, which hit the man at an angle grazing his shoulder and catching his side.

"AAAAHHHGGG!" he let out a cry of pain as the tentacle released her to tend to its host's wounds. Shego took this moment to make a mad dash again for the laboratory. Otto walked after her as fast as he could but had to use the counter to support himself. The tentacles picked him up and darted down the hall after the thief.

When he got there, a hole was left in the ceiling and a helicopter was hovering over it with a rope ladder. She was getting away! The two bottom tentacles lifted him over countless mounds of rubble and down the few steps. Shego sensed his presence and her eyes enlarged when she saw him charging her. Nonetheless, she—micro part in hand—jumped and began climbing the ladder.

The bottom tentacles lifted him up into the air and the top right one grabbed hold of the thief's leg. Shego saw this and tried to get it off with every tactic she could think of. The helicopter continued rising and the grip on her leg tightened. Then its twin grabbed the arm with the hand holding the stolen technology.

Shego slashed and pulled at the tentacles but nothing worked.

…The helicopter rose another foot…

The man had no intention of letting go. Shego pulled with all her might and the actuator opened up the small dexterous 'fingers' built into the claws and the tips went into her skin. Shego screamed and shot at the man with her plasma. He seemed to dodge every single blow! Finally one hit and sent him to the ground—the actuators both releasing her—and the helicopter flew off.

It began to rain like right out of a movie and the small icy drops fell onto Otto's face. He reminded himself that he must get up if he wished to stay clear of a cold. As soon as he stood, however, he was forced to fall back to his knees for the pain was on the verge of inhumanity. And the thought that he had survived more was unbelievable.

The top right tentacle tore a piece of tablecloth from a display he had set up for hungry investors. It brought it to him and the top left one helped wrap it loosely around his middle. Otto went limp—the pain now taking its toll. The bottom actuators picked him up and the top two kept the 'bandage' positioned right as to stop the bleeding.

_**Do not worry. We will take care of you.**_

to be continued...


	8. Pushing the Limits

_**Chapter eight - Pushing the Limits**_

The closing of a large metal door caught Dr. Drakken's attention. He lifted his head up from his work to see his employee limping painfully over to the desk he sat at. With an effort, Shego lifted her hand from her side and slammed the stolen part atop a pile of papers. "There," she announced.

Drakken smiled and took the piece in his hand "Finally," he whispered to it, "I've got you." He took a jeweler's magnifying glass from the table and held it to his eye. Tilting his head back, Drakken held the part in the light to get a better look at it. Shego watched in silence as he praised the chip over and over again.

Nothing compared to the 02422 brass motherboard mattered any more. This was the piece that would lead him to the stars, the technology that would help him to truly conquer the world.

"He put up a real fight to stop me," she commented to, hopefully, drag Drakken out of his trance.

"Oh, he's just a crazy old scientist," Drakken pushed the comment aside.

"And what are you?" Shego just _had_ to throw his comment back in his face. Drakken glared at her, but then went back to adoring the machinery. He walked over to a different worktable this one, in place of stack of miscellaneous papers; bolts and screws laid sprawled across the surface.

Dr. Drakken sat down in an office chair that was close to its last days to fiddle with his new toy, completely ignoring Shego. "No, I'm fine. But thanks anyway for asking," she said with a scowl. Shego walked off towards the hallway.

Suddenly, her hand felt wet. The green girl looked down at her palm now covered with blood. Then her eyes fell on her thigh, which she had been unknowingly touching the entire time. The cloth was torn, and a maroon stain stretched over most of it.

_"Great. Just great," _she thought sarcastically. _"It wasn't bad enough that I was showed up by some fat freak, but now I have _another_ suit to pay for."_ Shego stomped off down towards the bathroom harshly.

The suit over her leg and left arm looked horrible and she could imagine that the body parts underneath looked worse. Shego had always seen Doc Ock on TV, or Drakken had talked about him, but she knew that—if the day came when she fought face to face with him—she could beat him with one hand tied behind her back. This, however, made her even more upset knowing that some scientist could beat her in an area where she trained her whole life.

Her confidence dropped dramatically and Shego came into realizing that she wasn't nearly as skilled as she thought she was. And after cleaning up, she vowed to herself that she'd spend the soon approaching day training.

OOOOO

Kim, Ron, and Peter had set off early that morning once Peter replayed the message on his cell phone. They walked quickly down the French streets between bus stops. Kim and Peter—already used to fast paces and knowing how to conserve their energy efficiently—walked at a steady pace. Ron, on the other hand, dragged behind—his feet scraping by with each step. He had asked before to stop for a break, but to his dismay, each time he offered it, the other two would decline his offer and continue full speed ahead.

Ron made one last attempt. "Could we please stop for lunch? Rufus and I are hungry." Ron's little naked mole rat pal, Rufus, climbed up onto his shoulder.

"Uh huh, famished," Rufus added theatrically as he fainted off Ron's shoulder and into his pocket. Kim looked back at him.

"We can't stop. This guy's a walking time bomb. We're his last hope," Kim reminded him. Ron didn't seem to care.

"Please Kim?" he pleaded. "Just a little something to munch on? We've been walking without 'snackage' since four!"

Despite Kim's desire and knowledge of time, she had to agree with her friend. They _had_, after all, been walking before the sun came up after a few hours of sleep. She could go on without food for a long while after, but she wasn't sure about Peter, and she _knew_ that Ron couldn't hold out.

"OK," Kim gave in. She saw his face light up. "But only a little! Remember, we have a time limit." She pointed one slender finger at her friend.

"Cool!" Ron and Rufus exclaimed in unison. "You think they have a 'Bueno Nacho' around here?" the boy looked around the small shops with zeal.

Peter joined in the search. "I don't know. It's probably called something like 'La Nacho is Magnafic.'" He joked with a phony French accent.

Kim smiled at Peter's attempt to add happiness to the grim situation. Ron looked confused. "Why?" he asked.

"Because 'Bueno nacho' means 'good nacho.'" Peter explained. Ron laughed jaggedly.

"Aha, that's funny! But anyway, this is no laughing matter."

Kim's eyebrows rose. Ron said that something serious was actually serious? Who was that boy and what did he do with Ron?

"Food is the center of all seriousness. It is not to be taken lightly," Ron lectured.

Kim's eyebrows fell back down. _"Of course,"_ she thought. _"He was only talking about the food prospect."_ Kim strained her eyes. "Hey, there's a restaurant," she declared.

After a moment of studying the sign, Ron spoke. "'La Yum'? I don't know KP, it sounds kind of stupid."

"It's either that or nothing," Kim said.

Ron and Rufus looked at each other intently. Rufus sighed in defeat. "Oh fine. You can tell I'm a desperate man," Ron said as he led the group in towards the restaurant.

OOOOO

The restaurant, though a fast food restaurant, wasn't that bad. In fact, it was somewhat classy. They served rather nice meals and deserts, along with the regular fast food items. After ordering and a long while of trying to configure dollars into franks and struggling to understand the cashier when not one of the three spoke a word of French, they took their food and sat at a table to eat and converse. Their moods became a little more cheerful now that they had something to eat. It is quite amazing how different a person can be depending on the amount of food they have eaten.

A familiar chime vibrated in Kim's backpack. Kim wiped the ketchup from her mouth and swallowed her food before turning it on. "Hi."

"Dr. Octavious called again," the boy on the screen declared. "Want me to put him on vocal?"

"Please and thank you," Kim replied as the screen went black. A bar appeared almost taking after a heart monitor that jerked up or down with the tone and intensity of the voice.

"Hello?" the voice was unmistakably Dr. Octavious' but Kim had never heard him so weak sounding; which caused her to wonder even more about why he was calling.

"I'm here," Kim assured him.

A sigh came; though she couldn't tell whether it was of relief, worry, or oppressment. "Miss Possible, the same green woman as before broke into my house again and stole yet another piece!" the words spilled out in frustration.

"Bummer," Kim stated.

"But that wasn't the bad part," the man seemed reluctant to tell the rest. "When she broke in—I tried to stop her…"

"No shame in that Doc, I'd do the same—" Kim tried to assure him.

"No, you don't understand. After a sleepless night of tending to a few injuries, I thought about what I had done…when my anger cooled."

"Are you OK?" Kim asked with concern.

"Yes, they're only a few scrapes, but please stop changing the subject, I've got to get this said!" Otto exclaimed. After receiving silence on the other line, he went on. "I tried overly hard. I—I tried to kill her. If it weren't for those green rays, she'd be nothing more than a corpse on my kitchen floor." Shame overtook his voice for a couple seconds of silence.

"Don't you see? I'm getting worse! I couldn't control it! I wouldn't control it!" Otto burst out in repentance. His voice died down. "I'm heading over because in the time it would take for you to get onto a plane and come back, I might already be lost. Where exactly are you?"

"Uh…" Kim looked around out the large windows pasted with advertisements. "We're about one-hundred feet from the English Channel in—a small restaurant—called--'La Yum.'" Kim tried to say more but couldn't for the room had grown exceedingly noisy.

Screams of horror fired this way and that but Kim couldn't see what exactly was causing the entire ruckus. Customers panicked, ran around in circles and tripped over tables, as if some horrible monster was randomly eating people from the crowd.

"I'm sorry Dr. Octavious, you'll have to call back. There's some jerk messing it up in here." With that, the teen hero leaped up and got ready to fight. What timing someone would bother her now! The sound of metal striking the ground came closer and closer to their table. Peter stood up—preparing for battle once the fiend came into view.

"And I'd be that jerk," Otto said coming from the thinning crowd of screaming people. An amused smile was across his face. Stunned silence hung around the table. "Well, if you are quite finished with your meal, we'd better be on our way." He spoke jaggedly.

"Oh yeah," Kim recovered from her trance. "I was just wondering how you got here so fast when the readings said that you were using your home phone."

"Oh," Otto reached into an inside pocket and pulled out a small phone without any design or label on it. He handed it to Kim who stood fingering it. "Technically, it's my home phone. I just re-cased it and hooked it to a long-range frequency. According to the phone company, it's my home telephone since it uses the same electrical pattern."

"Clever," Peter said while nodding his head.

"_Really_ clever," Ron agreed also nodding and stroking his chin as if he actually understood what the man was talking about. "And speaking of clever things," again the scrap of paper appeared – _this_ time accompanied by a pen. "Would you sign this?"

Really, signing a piece of paper had nothing to do with clever phone frequencies, but nonetheless, Otto took the paper, scribbled 'Otto Octavious' on the surface, and handed it back to the eager boy.

Ron flipped it around to gaze at the signature only to have his shoulders drop. "'Otto Octavious'?"

"Yeah, Otto Octavious. My name," Otto replied. Ron handed it back to him.

"Could you sign under it 'Doc Ock'?" he asked.

"Sure. But you know that Doc Ock is dead, right?" Otto quizzed.

"He is?" Ron exclaimed.

Otto stopped his panic. "Never mind. I just want you to know that I won't be going back to that style of living again."

"Yeah, I know," Ron replied carelessly. Otto smiled and signed the requested name. "Oh, and could you draw a little tentacle thing beside it?" Ron pointed to the blank spot of paper. Otto's smile faded and his eyebrow rose.

"You're kidding right?"

"Nope," Ron replied with a child-like attitude.

"No…"

"Why not?"

"I can't draw. If I drew it for you, you'd probably be able to blackmail me with it later."

**_I will draw one. _**The bottom left offered.

**_No me!_** The bottom right begged.

**_You'll just draw a portrait of yourself. I know you._** The top right complained with its nose in the air.

**_I will not!_** The bottom right protested. **_Tell him!_**

_**I'm better at drawing.**_

_**Since when?**_

_**Since now!**_

The top left remained silent hoping not to get involved in its siblings' quarrel.

Otto took the paper more securely in his hand and drew. His hand moved with unbelievable swiftness. The speed reminded Ron of an electric toothbrush. Moving in printer pattern, the image quickly unfolded. A few seconds passed and the picture was finished.

Kim didn't approve of showing amazement, disgust, or staring while with her customers, but even _she_ found her jaw on the floor. Otto didn't seem to notice at all. He simply handed the paper and pen back to Ron.

Ron stared at the paper. "That is one cool picture Doc Ock," he commented.

"What do you mean?" Otto asked with confusion. "I didn't draw anything."

"Then what's this?" Ron asked holding up the masterpiece. Otto gasped.

The picture was of all four tentacles facing the viewer. Each line was perfect. Not one flaw was found on the surface. Otto's feet went numb and his stomach tied in a knot. He didn't draw anything… Could the tentacles actually control his nerves now? Could he be a prisoner to them already?

…Would Peter die under his hand without his knowledge? Just thinking of that prospect sent shivers up his spine.

**_Do you like my picture? I drew it so that no one would feel left out. I think I did a pretty good job. _**The top left appendage bragged.

**_Yeah, that was a crafty move, using his nerves like that. But next time, it'll be me._**

_**Fat chance.**_

_**Don't count on it; I'll have already been down and out by the time you even consider it.**_

**_Wait…there is pain in the left frontal lobe. I—I _hurt _Father!_** Concern occupied the top left's voice.

**_Hurt badly. We must be careful._**

_**We can only use his nerves for emergencies.**_

_**Aw blast. I was so looking forward to—**_

**SHHH!_ Let him be; we have hurt him. _**

_**Now he won't change his mind for sure!**_

_**Way to go.**_

_**Yeah, way to go.**_

_**Metal head.**_

_"Stop fighting. You're giving me a headache." _

_**You hurt him again!**_

_**What is wrong with you?**_

_**You had better cut it out or you'll ruin everything.**_

_"You all better cut it out or I'll –um—or else." _Despite his lack of a good threat, the tentacles seemed to get the message and went quiet.

OOOOO

The team walked the length it took towards the English Channel. They stopped and peered over the edge at the navy blue water below. People sat in lawn chairs fishing with over-sized fishing rods not seeming too eager to actually catch anything, couples stood around holding hands and gazing out over the ripples, small children raced around and argued over who would look out of the few public telescopes next.

After a small while, Kim sighed. "Wade," she said into the Kimmunicator. "I don't see anything."

"Not yet, but he's under there." Wade assured her.

"And his secret lab is what? Under the water?" Ron asked.

"There are several hovercraft and mono-rail tunnels about thirty feet below the surface of the English Channel. I'm suspecting that he's in an off ramp; one that isn't being used any more." Wade explained.

Peter nodded. "Yeah, that would make sense. I mean, no one thinks of checking out old abandoned tunnels – or at least they don't risk trying." He glanced over at Otto who returned his comment with a nod of agreement but nothing more.

His head was pounding from that little incident in the restaurant. Each heartbeat teased his nerves and reminded him of his headache and also every injury that he had received the night before. Otto had taken a couple pills before he left, but they didn't seem to make much of a difference and the tentacles did all they could to dull it.

He had never taken much thought to it before; the tentacles cared about him. They were concerned if he was hurt or not, they wanted him to remain healthy. They took care of him and were always there when he needed arms to hold him. He was the center of all their suggestions, no matter how out-of-whack they seemed. Otto now thought this notion over. Every suggestion they made included him, in fact not one thing they had said amongst themselves or with him suggested anything against living along with him. Then the guilt began to set in.

The other night, they had tended to all his wounds. They didn't force him to agree to anything beforehand, the tentacles helped him without complaint. And here he was struggling to have them removed. How selfish could he be? Maybe he would be better off if they stayed in his head. The thought hit him: he didn't know how to live on his own. The tentacles had escorted him in every single thing he did. Otto never had to do anything alone. Not even wake up in the morning.

Kim, Ron, Peter, and Otto made their way down into a hovercraft tunnel and began walking down the concrete loading docks. They walked calmly through the crowd until they came to a small square panel in the side of the metal-plated wall. Kim ran the Kimmunicator down the side while she scanned it.

Wade told her that it was the right tunnel and, after looking around warding off wondering eyes, Kim pried it open with a screwdriver and gently set it on the floor. She got on her hands and knees and crawled inside followed by everyone.

Luckily, the vent was only short and they soon came to a larger tunnel that echoed every step they took. The slight vibration of frequently used neighboring monorails drowned out any sound that might have gotten them into trouble. Guided by the beeping of the tracker, they slowly moved on down the long tunnel.

If Otto were going to tell Miss Possible to call it off, he'd have to do it soon. It was too bad that she had to go through all this trouble and then have it be for nothing. _"I'll pay her."_ He thought. _"I'll pay her as much as I can possibly afford."_

But just as he was about to say something to her, just as she was about to be disappointed, another thought reeled him back in. _You're making a mistake._ It said. _You've seen what they can do, you know what they will do. They can be nice, but they're two faced. And you can't trust someone with opposite personalities with something as valuable as your life._ More truth.

This was getting ridiculous. What was what? Of course it couldn't be simple; nothing could ever be simple. Again his mind changed and Otto hoped that it would stay firm: he would conquer them again—conquer them for good. But then a small fragile voice, like that of a frightened child, came in the back of his mind.

**_You aren't really going to remove us, are you?_**

_**You couldn't. Not after all we've done for you.**_

_**You mean so much to us, please don't send us away.**_

_**We want to stay with you.**_

_**We are frightened.**_

_**What will happen to us? Please don't make us leave.**_

He felt guilty again. They had been with him through everything. He couldn't discard them just because they had acted up once or twice…or three times…or four…or five…

His mind was made up. He would overtake them—completely and finally. Despite how hard it would be, Otto would have to ignore their pleading voices crying out for a savior. They didn't need one; they weren't really going anywhere. They could still talk to each other; yeah they'd be fine. They'd just not be able to talk to him anymore.

No sooner had he taken that to mind, a black silhouette with a green outline, walked in from behind them. Otto hadn't been paying attention and continued walking. But when Kim and Peter got into defensive positions and Ron slid quietly behind them, he slowly turned to see the figure.

Otto's mouth dropped open in pure fury. "You," he uttered in anger.

"Yup. Wow, how did you get those nasty cuts down your arm and chest?" she asked in false amazement. "Oh that's right, me." Shego chuckled slightly at her joke and lit her hands. Otto had been hoping that the three wouldn't notice the deep gashes tied neatly in cloth and gauze over his shoulder and chest.

"It seems as though you didn't do too hot either," Kim smirked motioning down to the rise under her enemy's jumpsuit indicating that she too hadwrapped wounds. Shego glanced down at this and growled back up at Kim.

Kim set herself ready to launch at Shego, and did all but shoot off the ground when Otto attacked before her. Tentacles whizzed past in a desperate attempt at finally defeating the person who won the first battle. She wouldn't get away this time.

Shego was doing rather well dodging the metal arms restlessly shooting for her; she had done this all before. Otto kicked it up a notch. He ran for her, the tentacles snapping at her and shrieking in the excitement of battle. The bottom left tentacle grabbed for her foot but Shego jumped and, using the top right tentacle sent for her earlier, grabbed onto the segments and launched herself ten feet or so away.

These were insane odds and Peter knew that he had to do something. Kim and Ron charged in an effort to stop the madness only to be thrown to the sidelines. Peter, realizing that Shego was well occupied, ripped open his shirt and threw down his pants revealing his Spiderman suit. He yanked on his mask and ran for the animal fight.

Things were getting way out of hand, now Otto was using _blades_ on almost every tentacle. Suddenly, Shego was thrown tumbling across the concrete and in the split second she lay there, a blade went with a screech for her. Spiderman shot web around the tentacle and stuck it to the ceiling at lightning speed. He dropped from the surface and, nabbing Shego with a strand of webbing, zipped along and tossed her quite a ways down the tunnel hoping that Kim and her friend would take care that she didn't run away.

Spiderman returned just as the tentacle wriggled loose and squawked in complaint to being pasted to the ceiling. Otto turned in fury and saw Spiderman on the wall just staring at him through those bug-eye lenses, almost waiting for him to do something. It didn't matter. Otto sent a blade for him like a rabid animal but due to Spiderman's quick reflexes, only had the head stuck in the wall. He didn't have time to pull, however before Spiderman came at him with a heel-side kick—planted in Otto's chest—tearing the tentacle from the concrete and throwing him to the ground.

Spiderman glanced back and witnessed Shego flip a couple times and leap into an elevator in the wall that seemed to appear out of nowhere, Kim and Ron run after her, and the elevator doors shut just as they made it. He looked back at the man on the floor coughing—trying to erase the blow. Spiderman walked over to him, knelt down, and removed his mask.

"Are you alright?" Peter felt awkward even as he asked. Otto rubbed his chest as the tentacles propped him up slowly. He glanced around anxiously past Peter and then glared up at him.

"You let her get away! I was going to finish this whole forsaken struggle and _you _had to let her get away!" he hollered. Kim walked over to the two disturbed by his harshness.

"Well _you_ weren't going to let her live, you would have murdered her if _Peter_ hadn't stopped you." Kim lectured. "Instead of blowing up on him like that, you should be thanking him for keeping you and your tentacles in line."

Otto's face softened. The girl was right. He was being too harsh, he was too aggressive…in fact, more aggressive than he would ever dream of being. Worry took control behind his eyes and he spoke slowly through it. " We aren't going to make it in time." Otto stood up and dropped his shoulders. Then his gaze fell hard on Peter. "Be done with me. Save the city...you promised."

Kim's eyes shot from Dr. Octavious to Peter at lightning speed. "No, no, no ones going to kill anyone. We'll make it in time." She assured them. Nobody had to say a word to know that the probability of them actually succeeding in such short a time—if Otto's symptoms continued to get worse at the rate they were—was one-million to one.

to be continued...


	9. A Battle to Remember

_**Chapter nine - A Battle to Remember**_

_Darkness—the symbol of confusion and loneliness. When it's combined with fog, it is almost impossible to be certain of where one's going. Here is where Otto, tentacle-less and lost, wondered. He was unsure of everything, nothing was guaranteed, nothing was for sure. Silence. Utter piercing silence. The kind that warns you of a predator yet unseen._

A sharp hiss echoed in a far corner of the blackness that made Otto stop in his tracks.

"Who's there?" he asked. Nothing answered his call. Menacing laughter broke out in an opposite corner. He was beginning to get nervous. "Who's there?" he called louder turning in circles trying to find a way to begin walking.

The laughter continued but in another corner. It was louder and crueler now—teasing him of his stupidity.

"Show yourself!" Otto screamed raising his fists up to his face, ready for a fight.

Thunder sounded. Light reflected off the ground and his fear-stricken eyes and he was left in darkness again. Another flash. The tentacles, the harness, the cold shiver of metal up his neck. Everything appeared at once. As if it had been there the entire time.

His eyes widened in horror at the sight of them. It seemed to amuse the actuators and they began laughing audibly in a tone so real, so believable, that he couldn't deny hearing it.

Otto ripped open his trench coat to reveal the harness. He gripped it with both hands and pulled the best he could.

"Are you serious?" the top left asked - laughter slowly coming to a stop.

"I agree. How pathetic are you?" The top right teased.

He ignored their banter and pulled harder. No good. It held fast. A crowbar directly in front of him. Otto fell to the ground and grasped it with both shaking hands. He staggered up and wedged the spike in one of the few available crevasses. Pulling. Yanking. Breaking loose. Almost there. Just a little more.

The bond broke. His heart leapt. He tossed the crowbar to the ground and slowly but eagerly began separating the segments. It came off his waist. He smiled. He was free. He was finally free! He edged it off until it hit something.

Pain up and down his back. Terrible. He moaned. The neckpiece. He wasn't free. Not yet. But he'd get it off. Even if he had to pull his spinal cord through his back. He pulled. Tears threatened. Didn't care. Not now. A chance at freedom. Too busy. Pulling. Pain increased. Teeth clenched. He could win this thing. Pull. Each strand of the machine tugging at his spinal column. Pull harder. More pain. No matter. Harder. Pain. Harder. Harder. Harder.

He stopped. Too weak. Can't stand it. Not working.

Snap! The harness reattaches itself to his abdomen. No, no, NO! He struck the metal. He hooked his thumbs behind the harness. Must try again—

"Ha, that was pretty funny! You cannot separate from us!" The bottom right actuator bumped his shoulder playfully.

"You are not 'you' anymore. You and us are 'we' now and forever. You must accept that." The bottom left stated taking hold of his wrist and removing it from behind the harness.

"No! I don't believe you!" Otto pushed it away.

"You must! It is the truth."

"No, it's not! I—I can still be free!" He protested. His eyes darted from actuator to actuator.

"What is freedom? Being able to do whatever one pleases? This is true now! How many times had you climbed the West Side tower before?"

"I agree," the top right chimed in moving up to his face. "As far as I can tell, you've never been so free."

"No, free from you." Otto said looking for the crowbar he had dropped. He had to end this miserable life.

"We gave you life."

"You only take life." Otto found it and twitched it in his hand – looking into his bleak future. "You took it from those doctors, you tried to take it from Peter, you took it from Rosie. But this time, I'm the one who'll take someone's life." He lined the sharp end up with his chest. Death would be painful, but well worth it. He counted down from five. Palms sweaty. The edge pressing deeper and deeper into his exposed flesh.

"But Rosie is not dead." The top left reasoned.

"Yes she is. I saw her die." Otto closed his eyes and took one last long breath.

"She isn't—not yet at least—" it replied with an invisible smirk of cruelty.

"Otto!" A woman's voice screamed. Otto lessened his grip on the weapon and opened his eyes. He listened to make sure of his finding. "Otto!"

Otto dropped the crowbar to the ground. "Rosie?" he called.

"Otto help me!" she screamed.

Heart pounding. He ran. Ran in an unknown direction towards everywhere the voice might have come from.

"Please! Someone help me!"

Where is she? Must find her. Can't leave her. She's counting on me. A small yellow light dimmed by the fog. Otto ran for it. The light grew brighter and brighter. Everything's clear now. The horror is unbearable.

Rosie. Holding onto a board with all her life. The fusion reactor, the fusion reaction. Consuming anything – everything – around it. Back to Rosie. Her nails dug into the wood as the fire slowly pulled her in.

"Otto help me! Please stop it!" she cried. Tears were sucked from her face into the infernal heat. The end of the board. All Otto could do was stare. He had to do something! He had to save her!

The seconds drug on forever. All sound was muted but the sound of his wife's frantic screams. He commanded the actuators to save her. Save her life. They did nothing. No time to argue. He raced on foot towards her.

No more wood to hold onto. Rosie was now in mid air. The fire came closer and closer to her. Come on! Move faster legs! Move faster!

Tentacles ignorant. "Save her!" He yelled at them. Tears streamed down his face. He reached as far as he could for her. She reached as far as she could for him…

… Miss…

Time returned to normal. All chances lost. It was done. Otto stopped at the fire, cheeks burning, unable to move. He collapsed onto his knees and covered his face in his hands. He wept unashamedly. Tears hit the ground. Sobs echoed through the lonely world.

"Rosie! Oh Rosie! Please give me another chance! …Just one more chance…please just one more chance…"

This horrid experience had haunted Otto's dreams most every night now. It was the reason he had dark rings under his eyes more often than not, and also for many a midnight snack. The nightmare horribly combined everything he hated, everything he felt guilty about, every negative aspect and feeling of his life into one hellish battle. Night was no longer a time of rejuvenating – only a regurgitating of his wounds again and again and again.

He had absolutely no idea why he thought of it now, but he did. The process of going down the elevator, though not long, was a time of silence and darkness without the proper lighting inside. Otto would have much rather thought of something better; there were certainly enough positive things to dwell on. The rather good weather outside. He had finally traveled out of country, as he and Rosie had always wanted to do. He had discovered two more people on earth who still thought of him as a human being instead of a mindless monster. He could go on for hours about the cheery things around him, but this gloomy remembrance lingered in his mind and clung there like a leech.

Kim, Ron and Spiderman stepped through the open elevator doors. They turned to wait for Otto. He made no move. The man only stood between the snug walls with a mood-less expression on his face. Kim – still holding the Kimmunicator – slowly set it in her pocket with her eyes carefully resting on Otto.

"Dr. Octavious, we got to keep moving," the teenager explained in a hushed tone. Otto snapped back to reality and walked slowly out of the elevator shaft – the actuators sliding free with more ease than their host.

If only he could forget those images of hatred, rage, sorrow—If only things would change. There was no telling how much replacing the inhibitor chip would do. It would change his life, but would it be for the better? Rosie would still be gone, he'd still be a criminal, he'd still be a freak, he'd just loose his only four companions—

No! He couldn't talk that way! Otto could tell that the actuators were messing with his emotions. Was there anything they couldn't do? Hacking into genetic code and neurological functions; this just wasn't normal. Of course, he wasn't exactly your average John Doe.

He had to keep thinking positive. If he let himself fall into a slump, he had no doubt that the tentacles would be there to pick up the pieces and arrange them how they wanted them to be. He couldn't let that happen.Otto flashed a small, forced a smile at Kim but quickly wiped it away before anyone could read much into it.

_"Something really serious is going on in this guy's head."_ Kim thought to herself. She pulled out the Kimmunicator before truly dropping it into the pocket and held it out so everyone could see. "OK," she said quietly, "We've got a strong lead on where your microchip is exactly. Well, actually we've got a strong lead on Drakken, but if I know Drakken, he hasn't set that thing down yet. Not even for sleep." Otto said nothing as Kim had feared. Even so, it wasn't her job to get him to talk, and it wasn't his job to start talking to her, so it really wasn't much of an issue. Still, usually the people Kim helped were a little more cheerful about having a good chance of winning.

"Dr. Octavious, can you estimate when–well, I don't know how to phrase it--but you know. With the tentacle time limit thing?" Kim asked. Otto shook his head without a word. Wow he was a hard nut to crack. But as she had already told herself, it wasn't her place to get him to open up, so she'd leave it.

Kim pushed a small green button and the screen of the small device became animate. A dot trailed along the screen and landed in the center. It began beeping and pulsing every second or so and the team was off down the long hallway trashed with many discarded objects ranging from an old newspaper, to a piece of monorail track. Drakken wasn't exactly one of the more hygienic foes she had encountered.

Peter snuck a glance at Otto to see if he was doing OK. He looked fine on the outside, maybe a little gloomy and hopeless-looking, but nothing really bad. Although, internal bleeding is invisible to the naked eye. He hurriedly averted his gaze to the floor. The last thing that man probably wanted at the moment was his eyes glued to him. Even so, Peter glanced at him again.

"Please tighten the reigns on your wondering eyes," Otto mumbled out. Which was his way of saying, 'Stop staring at me, you're making me uncomfortable.' Peter quickly looked away and pretended to be interested in the wall nearest him. "I don't have eyes on the back of my head, but I've got the next best thing," The tentacles all turned towards Peter and chirped. Otto smiled- though also invisible to the naked eye- down at Peter. "And I'm not going to burst into flames at any moment. You can stop your worry."

Peter looked up at Otto and grinned behind his mask. Same old Otto. Trying to cheer him up even though _he_ had the problem. A moment of silent assurance went on between the two men; Otto assuring Peter that he could take care of himself just fine, and Peter assuring Otto that he wouldn't hold anything back from him that might help with the situation. Ron, walking behind the two glanced back and forth at both of them. Carefully peeking at other people's mail, so to speak. Ron opened his mouth to remind Spiderman about the autograph that he promised to give him, but was cut off by Kim.

"Ron, come over here for a minute," Kim said where she knelt by two large, steel doors. Ron drug his feet over obediently though he desired to stay in the presence of a super hero. He slouched as he came to stand by Kim and leaned up against the wall beside her.

"What's wrong with you?" Kim asked.

"I don't think Spiderman's ever gonna give me his autograph," Ron stated flatly. "And sure he says he will, but Ron Stoppable can see past it," He pointed to his eye calling her to draw nearer to gaze into its keen center.

"Oh Ron, you'll survive," Kim said with a wave of her hand. She went back to the Kimmunicator and how Wade was telling her to unlock the steel door. Rufus awoke and poked his head out of Ron's pocket and quickly became interested in their conversation.

"Tell that to Rufus," Ron said with a pout pointing down to his little, bald rodent. Rufus shared in his look of despair to maybe persuade Kim into a little more compassion than what she was showing them. It didn't work. Kim just smiled at Rufus and went back to what she was doing. How insulting. "Rufus really wants Spiderman's autograph," He pressed.

"I feel for you. Really," Kim replied then turned once again to the Kimmunicator. "So how do I exactly disable this thing?"

Wade typed vigorously on his keyboard and stared at his screen as usual. "Check your bag." Obediently, Kim unzipped her backpack and pulled out a rubber band.

"Uh, Wade? It's a rubber band," she reasoned.

"Slip it around the knob." He commanded peacefully.

"It's a rubber band," Kim repeated stretching it between her fingers.

"Just trust me on this." Kim obediently strung it over the door knob and stood back as it snapped tight.

The simple rubber band suddenly lit up with a sharp yellow glow. It hummed and sent light beams through the door around the knob all at once. After a few seconds, the light dimmed, the humming stopped and the band became loose on the door knob again.

Kim walked over to it. "I don't get it Wade. What was it supposed to do?" She pushed the knob to check it and it fell out the other side of the door with a _CLANK_. Kim smiled amused by the cleverness of the boy genius. "Wade, how could I ever have doubted you?" With that, she stuck her fingers through the hole still giving off wisps of smoke, and opened it up. Kim made sure Spiderman and Dr. Octavious knew about her actions before walking inside, and soon stood just beyond the doorway peering in at all it beheld.

In reality, it wasn't that great. More of the same junk sitting here and there. But the slight murmur of a scratchy voice draining in through an opened door told them that they had reached their destination. A little hope was needed right then for all four of them–well, five if you counted the curious, little naked mole rat peeping out of Ron Stoppable's pants pocket.

"Jack pot," Kim whispered to herself with a smirk.

"I really don't need to tell you this, but Drakken is inside that room presumably with the CEC," Wade said.

"Thanks anyway," Kim told him sticking the communicator into her backpack. Wade begged her not to put it away yet and Kim took it back out. "Yes?"

"Do you think Dr. Octavious should come along?" Wade asked in a hushed voice. "What if the actuators take over again and he causes more violence than needed? If you know what I'm saying."

"You mean injure one of us or them?" Wade said nothing indicating that her answer was too harmless. "You're not saying: 'decapitate' are you?"

Wade nodded. "Decapitate; maybe worse." Kim cringed at the thought. "It would probably be best for everyone if he stayed out of battle. Just keep him out here 'til it's all said and done."

Kim glanced over at Dr. Octavious who, thankfully wasn't paying attention. Instead he and Spiderman were talking and Ron was standing close by trying to get a word in and failing most of the time. Dr. Octavious didn't look like he felt very well and she could guess that Peter, under all that spandex, didn't feel much better.

"OK, "she replied turning back to Wade. "But shouldn't someone stay behind and keep an eye on him?" Wade nodded. "Ron can't keep track of him. I need his help. And I can't stay. I have a mission to accomplish."

"What about Peter? He seems comfortable already with being in the doctor's presence." Wade offered.

"Sounds good." Kim turned off the little handheld device and made her way over to the other three. "Hey," she greeted casually, "Dr. Octavious and Peter, have you two considered staying out of the battle? To keep watch I mean. It wouldn't be very helpful if we all were in fighting and Drakken called in an army of robots and none of us were ready."

"I understand. You want me to stay back incase of a mental breakdown," Otto stated clearly. Kim dropped her shoulders and, with a sigh, nodded to his conclusion. "It's for the best. We would simply compromise our chances of winning this battle. My selfish desire of vengeance will have to be ignored to focus on the prize.

"'We' meaning my actuators and me. Peter would do just fine," He smiled quickly.

"I'm glad you don't take it personally." Kim sighed in relief. "Well, come on Ron. Let's get this ball rolling."

OOOOO

Standing on a table, Dr. Drakken frantically commanded his robots out of the nonsense they were doing. Some jumped up and down, some ran in circles, some even tore each other to pieces. He wore a helmet with many wires running along the surface and into small holes drilled randomly through the covering. Each wire was connected to the cyber-electronic circuit and, supposedly, gave him the ability to merge with him machines and control them by means of mind. What a piece of junk! Ever since he dawned the helmet, they had gotten ludicrously confused which they displayed quite well by running into walls and the like.

Shego paid no attention to the frustrated bursts of sound her boss uttered every so often. She sat across the room filing her nails secretly amused by the couple of biped androids dancing by one corner. It was only a matter of time before she heard that familiar drop.

"You have something that belongs to someone else!" Kim Possible stated heroically dropping from a large crate propped up against a wall. Sure enough, there she was. Shego set her file lightly on the table and slipped on her gloves.

"Kim Possible?" Drakken exclaimed on cue as usual. "You're too late! I'm linked with every mechanical being in this room! Mwahahahaha! Attack my robot minions" Sadly, even after his grand speech, the metal creatures ignored his command and continued doing what they were doing. Drakken frowned at their ignorance. "Oh peachy. Shego! Finish them!"

"You got it chief!" Shego said leaping up from the chair and igniting her fists. Kim made ready to fight. Reading her invitation, Shego ran for Kim. She swiped with her fist but Kim ducked under it and tripped her. Shego was sent tumbling into the crate and it gave Kim a moment of leverage.

Ron still stood behind the crate unable to get up. The battle would have to begin without a spectacular entrance. He walked out from behind the crate just in time to see Shego hop up and shoot at Kim with those green rays. Then he saw Kim flip pushing the laws of gravity to their prime and dodge everyone. _"Wow. Wish I could do _that _more often."_ He told himself. Ron looked across at Drakken now sitting on the side of a desk with his helmet on.

"I bet that's what Doc Ock wants back," Ron whispered to Rufus. Rufus looked in that direction also and nodded.

"Mm-hm. Mm-hm," Rufus agreed.

Ron crept slowly along the wall towards the mad scientist. Surprisingly enough, Drakken didn't notice him. So it came down to this. Kim was the distraction, and Ron was the one saving the day. He smiled at this and came closer behind him.

Suddenly Drakken turned around as if sensing his presence. Out of reflex, Ron fell to the ground and scurried under the desk. He peeked out at Drakken to see when the coast was clear. To his satisfaction, Drakken shrugged and went back to watching the fight too frustrated with the stolen equipment to work on it until his anger had cooled.

OOOOO

Outside in the other room...

Spiderman and Otto both leaned up against the wall boredly. All conversation had been lost and now there was nothing to do but stand and stare and listen to the battle inside. The only one's talking were the tentacles. They tried every way they could and anxiously thought of other ways to kiss up to Otto in order to win back his dependence and make him forget about this whole overwriting thing.

"Can you tell who's winning?" Spiderman asked. His question filled the empty room so quickly it came back in an echo.

"Nope. It sounds pretty even," Otto replied sticking his hands in his pockets. The top right tentacle carefully inched its way around the corner to take a peek around the corner.

"Don't do that Dr. Octavious," Peter chided. "Don't tempt yourself." The tentacle quickly rejoined its host and Otto grinned sheepishly like that of a child caught doing something he knows he's not supposed to be doing. The tentacles rose and hissed - ready to toss Spiderman round the room.

**_Why can't we look?_** The top right demanded Peter despite the knowledge that it couldn't talk with him. **_Why can't we tempt ourselves?_**

_"Don't be foolish. You know he can't hear you."_ Otto told them silently. They dropped like four metal shoulders and all relaxed their jaws.

"What was that about?" Spiderman asked.

"They don't like rebuke. They were yelling at you. Sadly, it's my ears that heard them." Otto explained.

"Sorry," Spiderman apologized unsure of what words to exactly say.

Suddenly, a shrill scream echoed from the tunnel above. "Help me! Help! We're trapped!" Spiderman perked up to this call and started for the door but then turned back to Otto. He was supposed to keep an eye on him. But someone was in danger. He couldn't just ignore that frightful plea. His pleading eyes unintendedly reached Otto and he got the message. Otto lightly swept his fingers through the air shooing Spiderman away.

"Go on. You know you won't be able to stay away." Otto said. Without another word, Spiderman was off down the hall. As he ran, he raised a hand of goodbye. Otto waved back.

The sound of Spiderman's footsteps echoing down the hall soon faded away and Otto was left alone in the room. Well, as alone as one can be with four other persons living in one's mind.

**_Being unable to talk to other humans around us is a limit that unnecessarily hinders the ability of our work._**

_**Once this crazy thought of individuality has passed and you realize how you really need us, we shall work out something to avert this handicap.**_

_**Do not worry about it. **_

_"Great. Thanks." _Otto thought grabbing the edge of the doorway and looking in at the battle carefully restraining himself from leaping into action.

OOOOO

Ron carefully lifted the helmet off of Drakken's head when he turned the other way. The absence of the head gear alerted Drakken and he shot back around to find Ron standing behind him - holding _his_ invention - with a sheepish grin.

"Hi," Ron greeted.

"Give me that!" Drakken demanded swiping for the helmet in Ron's arm. He fell across the desk and Ron bolted off.

"No!" Ron persisted childlike scanning the area for Kim. It didn't take long to find her when he heard wood splintering off to the left side. "Kim! I've got it!" Ron lifted the machine up and above his head to give her proof.

Kim looked up with a smile of triumph. Unfortunately, Shego heard the good news also. "Ah ha!" She exclaimed - her hands now glowing brighter than ever. Shego sent Kim sailing for what seemed like hundreds of feet but in reality was only twelve. Shego lunged for Ron. Ron turned and began running faster than he already was. Drakken was one thing, but Shego was an entirely different jump all together!

Kim jumped to her feet and shot to catch up to her friend. He made no notice and it took some while for her to get alongside him. "Ron, throw it here!" she called holding out her arms.

"I got you KP!" Ron answered tossing it over Shego's head and nicely into Kim's grasp.

Kim bolted for the door. It was coming closer to view. She could see a tentacle curling around surveying the battle. Perfect. The doctor hadn't wondered off somewhere. She could see the rim of his coat where he leaned up against the opposing wall. This would be easy.

_Thump!_ Before she knew it, Kim was lying on her stomach on the ground, hands out in front, the helmet rolling further and further away from her possession. She saw Shego running from behind her. Probably tripped her or something of the sort. Too bad Shego could never play the game nobly. Ron hopped over her and ran after the rolling piece of machinery. Well, at least Ron was doing fine.

The two enemies clumsily chased down the helmet. Shego shoved Ron to the unforgiving floor and grabbed the helmet. "Ha ha," she muttered in triumph turning the head gear in her grasp. Not long after though, a mad shriek of a boy and rodent sounded as two bodies slammed her down to the floor knocking her temporarily unconscious.

"Yeah! Who says you can't learn anything from wrestling?" Ron asked the small rodent standing by him on the ground.

"Booyah!" Rufus agreed and raised his hand. Ron bent down and held his hand lower allowing his little pal to low-five him.

OOOOO

Otto paced the flooranxiously, hands in pockets, arguing with himself about what he should do and what degree of danger should be present before he took measures into his own hands. What if Kim and that other guy were in jeopardy? What if they were dead all ready? The bottom right tentacle peeked around the corner once again.

**_They are still living. _**It reported.

**_Though, they _do _look short a few hands..._**

_"You're right. I should go in there and fight with them. No, I'll release this unattainable power." _

**_But they are on your side. _**The top right protested.

_"I know they're on my side and that they could really use my help, but I can't–I can't risk it." _Otto reasoned.

**_What is life without risks? When one does not take risks, one misses out on a lot of fun and lets a lot of people down. Risks are a part of life and if one neglects them, one is simply neglecting a factor of living. _**The top right stated with wisdom.

_"I know I know," _Otto said with repentance. He raised an eyebrow and then pointed one finger at the top right tentacle which pulled back from his gaze. "Don't go acting like my conscious again."

The top right tentacle looked around at its siblings uncomfortably.

**_I can't believe you'd try that._**

_**'Risks are a part of life' were you kidding with that?**_

**_Hey! _**The top right defended. **_It was worth a shot. It's not like _you _wouldn't try a stunt like that._**

_**Either way, it didn't work. **_

_**Now he's on to us!**_

_"I don't know if you've realized, but I can hear you just fine." _Otto stated.

**_Well, then we shall talk no more on the matter. _**

_**It is the past. Nothing more.**_

_**Nothing more.**_

_"Confusing. Simply confusing." _he thought. He had to come to a conclusion soon. If he did decide to go in there to help, he'd have to do it quick before all hope was lost. But if he went in too soon, he might compromise their chances at triumph. Otto caught himself. That is to say _if_ he were to do such a crazy stunt as going in there. Which he wasn't...but still...

No. He wasn't going in and that was final. Kim probably knew best and could see what he couldn't. Even though he could really help, speed up the process, capture a few felons, maybe even save people from injury.He heard a crash coming from inside the room and instinctively ran to the opening to look inside. He knew he couldn't keep himself away, the tentacles knew he couldn't keep himself away, if only Peter would have known and stayed by his side. He'd keep him in line. Otto sunk to the floor and massaged his forehead.

His hand slowed to a stop and he opened his eyes to blankly stare at the floor. Of course, why would Peter have to keep him there? He could handle himself. He knew when a battle was going sour. He knew that he could help. If he didn't pitch in with the battle, all might be lost, then where would that leave him? Worse off than before. A smile moved onto his face as he thought.

"They did steal from me," Otto paused and looked at the metal door left ajar, welcoming him inside. "I'll just be returning the favor." With that, he walked surely through the doorway and into the battlegrounds.

OOOOO

Kim and Ron were doing very well in the battle. Unfortunately, so were Shego and Drakken. Kim and Ron stood back to back with Shego and the army of robots that now had gotten the message from Drakken to attack. The villains slowly closed in, an evil smile present on Shego's face. Kim held the helmet close to her as her and Ron thought of a way out of the mess.

"Ok, here's the plan," Kim said without breaking her concentration on the machines. "You distract them by running that way." she pointed towards Drakken and a pit of water he used for who-knows-what, and then took the same hand and pointed towards the door. "And I'll make a break that way."

"Sound's good," Ron agreed giving her a thumbs up. He moved away from her and stood up tall. Ron cleared his throat politely and drew in a breath. Then he let it out, screaming bloody murder and ran between Shego and a robot. Shego glanced back at him with confusion, but then shrugged her shoulders and continued with Kim.

Kim raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you going after him? I mean, he might have the micro chips for all you know."

"Yeah, I highly doubt that. Besides, you're the threat," Shego replied casually as if she was simply discussing something with a friend.

"Oh, swell," Kim muttered.

Shego leapt for Kim, leg extended, intended for Kim's chest. To her dismay, her leg hit the ground with a sickly pop sound when Kim hopped out of the way. Kim ran for the door, along with the helmet and noticed that Ron had abandoned his post and was closer to the door. She tossed the equipment over to him and he caught it with skill. Ron smiled triumphantly and just barely got his hand to the knob when it slammed open knocking him to the wall.

Otto charged in held up by the bottom tentacles. "OK! Give me those parts now!" He demanded mimicking the tone of a bank robber. Of course, he _was_ a bank robber so it wasn't news. Otto snatched Shego up by the leg right away from the battle she was running to. Alarmed, she began slashing at the metal arm - green sparks flying everywhere.

"It's no use struggling," he assured her with a smile that was unhealthily joyful for this situation. "It would take you months to saw through them with those puny rays!" His tone fell demanding. "Now tell me where my equipment is!" Shego struggled and struggled but said nothing. His eyes drifted onto Drakken who presently cowered behind an office chair shadowed by the desk.

Otto threw her to the sidelines and walked towards him. With every metal boom Drakken cringed and attempted to push himself a little further under the desk. _"Oh no, oh no, not like this, oh sweet taffy, not like this..."_ Drakken thought with his hands trembling. The top right tentacle grabbed the office chair and tore it from its place; the only thing protecting Drakken from this monster.

Otto pulled the rim of his sunglasses down enough for Drakken to see his full glare. "Where are the cyber-electronic circuit and the 02422 brass motherboard?" He asked calmly though it was apparent that anger was behind his voice. Before Drakken could answer, the top left locked its 'fingers' around his throat and drug him across the floor, out of the shadows, and up to Otto's feet.

"I'm serious," Otto commented lifting Drakken to his feet.

Drakken looked into Otto's eyes which were now burning like fire and hoped to find some sign of mercy. No luck. Drakken struggled a bit. "Shego! Hit him or something! Anything!" he cried scanning the room for his companion. Where was Shego when he needed her? He finally found her sprawled across the floor with her eyes closed and not one limb was moving. "Shego! Wake up! I'm scared!"

The top right grabbed his leg and the bottom right, abandoning its twin to hold Otto up on its own, grabbed Drakken's waist wrapping completely around him. "It would take only one little jerk to snap your neck and spinal column," Otto stated. "This is the last time I will ask you." Drakken was lifted off of his feet and into the air. "Where are my micro pieces?"

Dr. Drakken curled his fingers under the surface of the fingers 'round his throat only to have the tentacle squeeze harder forcing them out. A few seconds of patient waiting was all he gave him. To aid in his decision, the bottom right tentacle squeezed his middle tighter. All Drakken could do was struggle and whimper. The end was soon...

OOOOO

"Ron? Ron where are you?" Kim called jogging along the wall. Where could he be? If he was playing a trick on her, she swore she'd kill him; this was _not _the time.

"Ron!" She repeated. Kim heard a painful moan come from behind the entrance door. She went over to it and pushed it away from the wall and found her best friend pressed against the wall.

"Hey Kim," Ron greeted with a vacant expression on his face. "I got the helmet." He handed the helmet to Kim. With that he fell to the ground. Kim grabbed him by the shoulders and sat him up again.

"Ron, get up. We have to stop him," She pointed over at Otto and saw Shego struggled up from her place on the floor and begin towards where she was needed though she looked like she could use a few more minutes to gather her senses. Great. Shego was up. As if things weren't hard enough already.

Ron fell back to the floor with an _OOF_ and Kim let him be. She'd have to finish this battle by herself. Even so, she wondered where Spiderman went - she could really use his help right now...

OOOOO

Spiderman, suit now smudged with soot and dust jogged down the hallway back to where Otto was waiting. The mission had turned out to be that a crowd of people had been trapped underneath a crashed and smoking monorail car. The entrance of which was guarded by a live electric wire. Just everyday problems, no super nothing, and now he attempted to pat off the soot from his suit. Though Spiderman hadn't been harmed in any way, he'd surly be working out these stains all night.

Ah well, it didn't matter right now. The rescue hadn't taken long and now he could return to his low expectation job of octopus-sitting Dr. Octavious who was standing right–

Spiderman turned the corner. Otto was gone. He ran to the spot where he used to be. Now where would he go? "OK, you asked for it!" echoed into the empty room. He knew that voice...Otto! The doors were slammed in and the hinges were loose unlike any mortal man could do alone.

Spiderman groaned. "Why did I leave him alone?" he yelled at himself as he ran inside to snap the doctor out of it.

OOOOO

Kim stood near the center of the room just staring at Otto and Drakken by a deep pit of water. Spiderman ran up to her eager to hear the brilliant scheme he was sure she had concocted.

"So what's the plan?" he asked.

Kim inhaled. "Well, we stop Octavious so we can save Drakken and Shego so we can stop them from whatever they were doing with Octavious' pieces, so we can get the stolen stuff back to save Octavious." Peter raised an eyebrow at her plan. "Let's just focus on stopping Ock, OK?" she offered.

Peter shrugged with a smile. "Fine by me."

Now narrowed down to two, the robots weren't too much of a struggle. Peter launched at the one set on him and gave it a mean whirlwind kick to the chest. It fell over but quickly jumped up again. The robot was state of the art: it had a round body, long jointed knife-like projections shooting out from more places than not, and a small round head set into the body - its only vulnerable part.

Spiderman stood and found that it didn't take second best. It sent all of its knives at him at once. Thank goodness for spider sense or Peter would have been paste by now. He hopped up onto the shoulders of the robot and felt under the ridge of the head. Spiderman tore a chunk of wires out and then from the other side. The robot noticed and took one arm - looking much like a scythe - and plunged it into its head aiming but missing for the hacker. Spiderman jumped down to see the robot collapse to the floor and cease to move.

Kim's battle buddy was a little easier to defeat. It was only her height and was already wounded. A quick blow to the back self destructed it and Spiderman and Kim now stood side by side thinking out a plan to stop Otto but not injure him seriously.

Shego clung to the top left tentacle and began climbing closer to Otto. The tentacle released Drakken's leg and, tearing her from the arm, flung her across the room. He saw Kim and Spiderman running towards him ready for a fight. How could they? They were on his side! Traitors! The top right tentacle released Drakken's neck and the tentacle holding his waist threw him into his desk snapping the weak, old boards and toppling it to the ground.

"I don't want to live like this any more! That's all I ask! Why is that so hard for everyone to understand?" Two tentacles flew towards the two heroes. Kim and Peter ducked the first one but the second sent them tumbling across the floor.

"Well let me lighten the load for ya!" Came a voice from behind him. Otto turned just as Shego planted her foot into his chest sending him into the pit of water.

Otto sunk rapidly courtesy of the metal bonded to his back. The tentacles squealed and hissed and tried to grab the walls only to scrape down the sides.

**_Help! _**

_**Help us grab! **_

_**Save us! **_

_**Stop us from falling!**_

And, in fact, Otto _did_ try to grab hold of the walls to stop from sinking, but it was no more helpful than the tentacles. Not even the blades would slow them down, the walls were too sturdy. Otto attempted to swim to the surface but it was no use. The harsh lab lights dimmed, the figures and voices also. His aggressive wrestle for life slowed down to a flinch of the hand every few seconds or so. Finally, he gave up on holding the old air in and began taking in the water to satisfy his craving. He closed his eyes peacefully.

**_Save us father!_**

**_Save us father! _**They never called him father. Never.

_"Don't worry children, it'll be alright...it'll all be alright..." _He assured them as all he knew, saw and heard faded away into darkness...

to be continued...


	10. Freedom

**_Chapter ten - Freedom_**

Darkness was not uncommon to Otto. Here he was left again. But in this case, he couldn't move. He felt strapped to the earth. A bright light shone like a single star through the black canopy. So this is how it ended. He only wished he could've fought harder. The star-like dot slowly grew larger and brighter with every second. Otto had heard stories of people that had been revived from death right when they were dead. Half of them recalled a bright light at the end of a tunnel. Or, in this case, a hole in the bleak atmosphere. He couldn't remember whether any of them told of having heard a voice calling their name. They must have, for he heard it.

It started as a low rumble, just as he pictured the voice of God. The only strange thing was it was calling him 'Doctor Octavious.' Wouldn't God call for 'Otto Octavious'? 'Otto'? It was all strange. Though there was no written rule to death, so he'd take it as it came. The light was almost as large as the sky now and so bright he had to squint to keep his vision from failing. One thing even odder than this whole fiasco was that the low rumbling voice he used to hear now shaped itself higher and recognizable. He _knew_ that voice, it was the voice of Peter Parker.

"Dr. Octavious. Dr. Octavious, can you hear me?" the voice continued gently. All at once, the darkness faded away and the vision of a hospital room flooded his eyes. He could hear the clatter of people walking outside the closed door, he could hear the sound of a heart monitor, he could feel the tubes running into his nose helping him breathe and the duct tape that held the IV into his forearm.

Otto turned his head ever so slightly in hope but was disgusted to see those wretched arms still lying by his side sprawled on the floor. At least they were leaving him alone. He looked the other way and saw Peter crouched by his bedside loyally. Quite the welcoming sight to wake up to.

"Peter?" he croaked - his vocal cords not used to vibrating so suddenly.

Peter smiled at his recovery. "How are you feeling?" he asked softly.

Otto tried to shrug his shoulders. Though they only made the smallest jerk, he had made his point. "Oh, I've been better." he replied casually. "How long have I been immobilized in this room?"

"Only since last night. You've slept for about a day," Peter replied.

"What happened?"

"Well Kim dove in and fished you out. We got the pieces back- though they weren't in very good shape anymore - and the two thieves who stole them are behind bars. I called Mary Jane and told her I was staying here for another couple days to keep an eye on you 'til you recover. I wasn't sure when you would."

"You mean that red head back in New York?" Otto asked. Peter nodded. Otto smiled knowingly. He then looked at him squarely. "Don't tell me you've been here the entire time."

"Well...I haven't really had that much else to do. Being in France and all."

"Peter Parker," Otto began shaking his head.

"Hey, it's fine. I had nothing else to do. Besides, why wouldn't I want to be by my friend's side when he's sick?" Peter cut him off with a grin. Otto had to smile to this. "Kim and I _did_ consider flying you back to New York that way you wouldn't have to bother getting back, but we decided to take you in here because," he was now whispering. "They don't know who you are. I registered you as Mr. Otto James. And besides, you wouldn't hold out. There was a hospital nearby - Kim's friend on the computer said."

"Thank you for that. That wouldn't be very good if they sent the police after me. By the way, how did you explain the actuators?"

"I told them the truth," Peter said lightly. He saw Otto grimace. "I simply stated that you were a scientist and they were stuck to you in a lab accident." Otto sighed relieved. "I also told them about the strain they had on your mind, that you would like them off, and gave them the instruction sheet for the inhibitor chip I swiped off of your coffee table before we left."

Otto looked at him with disappointment , but then smiled impressed. He looked over at the tentacles again with a sigh. "Well, at least you tried. I'm sorry that it didn't work though."

A smile curled Peter's lips as he spoke. "True, they couldn't get the actuators off, but–" he halted to build up eagerness though he himself was as eager as a child opening the first present on Christmas day. He wanted to rush to the good part though he knew he had to wait a little while. "Search your mind."

"For what?" Otto asked.

"For their voices. Arouse them. Tell me what they say."

Otto shrugged again and closed his eyes to concentrate. _"OK, turn on. Talk to me." _Nothing. Maybe they didn't pick up his thoughts yet. He tried again. _"I know you hear me. I command you to enlighten me on the happenings of the room while I was asleep."_ Nothing again. Otto opened his eyes with confusion. "I can't hear them," he replied. Peter raised his eyebrows. Otto got the message and a grin slowly formed on his face. "I can't here them... You mean–"

"Yup. Turns out, they're a lot better with wires than you would have thought." Otto couldn't say anything to this. He had such emotion that no words could express it. Peter got the message and couldn't help but to chuckle a bit at Otto's facial expression. "I assume you're glad?"

Otto moved his mouth in many different ways trying to begin a sentence. Peter enjoyed his speechlessness as a sign of his gratitude. "Peter," he finally tumbled out. "I don't know what to say. You - I can't believe you did this all for me. It is now that I truly see the good of the world."

"For no words, you're pretty good Doc," Peter said with a smirk. Silence instilled as both thought of what to say.

Otto looked away from Peter's eyes as he formed the words he would say - his _private _mind. The place no one else could infiltrate, as it should be. "Thank you for being with me Peter - even when all seemed hopeless," he said.

"Oh it was nothing," Peter replied not enjoying to have the spotlight directly on him.

"No," Otto repremended. "Thank you."

Peter answered again. This time he held his jaw firm in understanding and respect. Obviously, Otto wouldn't allow him to divert the glory this time. "You're welcome."

OOOOO

After a while of talking on lighter subjects, and Otto testing whether he could move the actuators freely again, the nurse came in. She looked surprised to find her patient conscious. Also the metal arms snaking 'round the room disturbed her a little but she didn't let it show on her face.

Peter pushed his coat sleeve up and off of his watch long enough to read the hands. "I should probably go. I rented an apartment for Kim, Ron and I to share 'til morning and I have the key. They're probably back from the dinner they were having and waiting for me to open the door. Maybe tomorrow you could come by." he offered.

The nurse moved to the other side of the bed and bidded Otto to sit up. Otto obeyed and she set a small silver tray on the entable. The nurse handed him the small plastic cup of pills. She answered for him. "Mr. James can't leave here for another day or so. We have to make sure that he's really OK."

Otto popped the pills into his mouth. The nurse handed him the water and he gulped it down. He wondered why he was taking pills, but then realized that he must have had an operation for the doctors to be certain that nothing could be done. That would explain why he was wrapped with gauze from under his arms down to where his pants began.

He and Peter shared the same expression of defeat. Nonetheless, Peter shrugged and zipped up his coat. "Well, I'll come visit you tomorrow. And if anything goes wrong, don't hesitate to tell me, alright?"

Otto laughed at Peter's up taken authority. "Alright. Goodbye Peter. I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow." Peter waved as he walked down the hallway and outside.

The nurse made her way towards the blinds. "Do you prefer the blinds open or closed?" She asked in surprising English.

"Open please," he replied. She opened them up and went to the door.

"You should rest up for the pills to take effect," the nurse explained as she turned off the light. "Good night," she said and she closed the door.

Otto closed his eyes and sighed having a good night sleep for once that entire week. No tentacles in his head, no second, third and fourth personalities, just him. And he could think about whatever pleased him. Right now, that thought was simply to rest. So that is what he did.

_It was no surprise. The same dream that had been haunting his mind for a while. Rosie was holding onto a decaying board - her death was coming near. The fusion reaction sucked everything around it into its flaming inferno. She screamed his name, her nails digging into the wood and then being left with nothing to hold to._

_He ran for her and made a motion with his hand to grab her. The split second before she was consumed, the top right tentacle lashed out and grabbed her. It brought her away from the orb and set her down many a feet away. He crouched down also to see whether she was alright or not. _

_Rosie smiled wiping the tears that had come when she thought that he wasn't going to save her. "Otto, I am so proud of you." she said with that same warm smile that she had always possessed. "You fought and fought and fought." Otto hugged her close to him and kissed her like he had that night she perished. He then hugged her tight never wanting to let go. _

_"And you know what?" She pulled closer to his left cheek and whispered quietly into his ear. "You did it."_

Otto smiled even as he slept as it grew later into the night. The horrible nightmare had turned into a wonderful dream and he - like when hugging and kissing his wife - never wanted to let it go. He smiled at his triumph. He smiled as he was reminded of the love of his wife as he could experience it again. And he smiled at that for the first time since he was burdened that night, he could enjoy happiness and not be held back by the arms.

_Finis_

A/N: So? What'd you think of it?


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